The Pageant
by Yourss Truly
Summary: Miley and Lilly enter a local beauty pageant. But will the pageant ruin their friendship? What will Miley have to give up to keep her alternate identity as Hannah Monatana hidden? BUM BUM BUM! [some Loliver]
1. Lilly, did you hear?

**A/N This is my first HM FF, so I hope you enjoy it! Please review!**

"Lilly, did you hear?" Miley screamed as she ran to Lilly's locker. She was holding a piece of hot pink paper with bold lettering printed across the front. She waved it in front of Lilly's face as she bounced up and down.

"Hear what?" Lilly asked, placing a hand on Miley's head to make her stop jumping.

"There's gonna be a beauty pageant right here in Malibu! It's for girls ages 12-15! That's us! We're ages 12-15!" Miley yelled in Lilly's face, bouncing up and down again. She held the paper out so Lilly could see.

"A beauty pageant?" Lilly repeated. "I don't know if you've noticed, Miley, but I'm not exactly beauty pageant material." She indicated her baggy dark green cargo pants and orange shirt, which was layered underneath a tight green sweatshirt.

Miley looked at Lilly's clothes.

"Hmmm." She said. "We can work around that." She put her arm around Lilly's shoulders and began walking. "Walk with me." She said.

They started to walk down the hallway of their school, which was crowded with people standing at their lockers and roaming around, socializing with their friends. Tons of excited-looking girls held a hot pink piece of paper identical to the one in Miley's hand.

"Come on Lilly, you'll have fun." Miley said pleadingly, waving the paper in front of Lilly's face again.

"Give me that." Lilly said, and tore the paper out of Miley's hand. She looked it over. It read:

**BEAUTY PAGEANT!**

**It's that time of year again! Sparkly Spirits is hosting its annual beauty pageant! This year it is going to be held in Malibu, California! So if you're a girl from age 12 to 15, glam up in time for the pageant! It will be hosted by Ms. Jacinda Livingston at The Club on 6th Avenue on February 22! The pageant will last for four days! If you'd like to be in the pageant, you need to sign up by February 21! All information needed for the pageant will be given out at sign-up! Hope to see you there!**

**Prizes for the winners of the pageant will be announced on the last day of the pageant! (February 25!)**

**I wish you all the very best of luck!**

**Sincerely,**

**Mrs. Cathy Gaber!**

"Well that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." Lilly said flatly when she finished reading the letter aloud. "And what's with all the exclamation points? I mean, do ya really need one at the end of every sentence? Who wrote this letter? Cuz whoever it was needs to go through Mr. Harbie's English Class."

"Oh come on Lilly, it can't be that bad." Miley said, bringing out her infamous puppy-dog pout. No one can say no to the puppy-dog pout. They stopped walking. "Will you please do it? For me?" She pleaded, shoving her face up towards Lilly's, her pout never disappearing.

"Oh, no, not the puppy-dog pout! No one can say no to that!" Lilly whined, trying to shove Miley's face away.

"Then say yes!" Miley said enthusiastically, pulling her face back from Lilly's.

"Miley, why do you want me to be in this pageant? Is this one of those, "It's to spend more time together" things? Cuz we all know how those work out." Lilly said, remembering the time Miley tried to get her to join cheerleading.

"Well, we _would_ get to spend tons more time together. And you know you would have fun, Lills. Please? Please? Please? Please? Don't make me get down on my knees. Cuz you know I will." Miley said, crouching down.

Lilly rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine! I'll do this whole pageant deal. Just put away the puppy-dog pout and stand up!" Lilly said, pulling on Miley's arm.

"Yay!" Miley said, clapping her hands together. "It's gonna be so much fun, Lilly! We get to dress up in long, flowing gowns." She said, spreading her arms apart. "We get to be real live models!"

"Well it would be kind of hard to be dead models." Oliver said, walking up behind the two of them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Lilly and I are going to be in a beauty pageant!" Miley said excitedly, turning to face him.

"A beauty pageant?" Oliver said disbelievingly. He looked at Lilly, who nodded her head slowly. "Uhh, guys, I don't think that's such a good idea. I've heard about those. Girls go into pageants as best friends but come out as worst enemies."

"Come on, Oliver, that's never gonna happen to us. Me and Lilly are like this." Miley said as she tried to cross her fingers. She couldn't quite get her middle finger over her index finger, so she said, "Well, we're really tight. BFFs!"

"Hey, I warned you." He said as he walked away.

"Miley, you don't think that'll happen to us, do you?" Lilly asked timidly.

"No way! Lilly, we're like, best friends! Forever! Nothing, not even a silly little pageant, can change that. And you know it!" Miley said.

"Yeah, I know." Lilly said with a smile. And the two best friends linked arms and wet to Math Class, talking about the pageant.

**A/N Ok, I know, this chapter was like, the shortest one ever! But I had to make one with just info. If you like my story, please review! I will be very happy if you review! P.S. I need 2 reviews to continue, so PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. I cannot believe I'm doing this

**A/N I wanna thank angry eyes, Elphaba Lives forever, Garden Spade, I'm a blonde on the inside, Loony Loony Loony Luna, MoonShine101, and KelsiLovesLucas and wittywriter22 for reviewing! Here we go with chapter number two! Enjoy!**

"I'm so excited to see what they're gonna have us do for the pageant! Aren't you, Lilly?" Miley asked her best friend as they walked toward The Club to retrieve their information for the pageant, which was only one day away.

"Yeah, I guess so." Lilly replied glumly. She was looking at her feet.

"Aww, come on, Lills, you know we're gonna have loads of fun!" Miley said encouragingly.

"Yeah! You know what? We will have fun!" Lilly said, holding her head and smiling.

"Yeah!" Miley said, pushing her fist into the air.

"And you know what else? We," Lilly put her arm around Miley's shoulders, causing one of her legs to come off the ground. "Are gonna do great!"

"Yeah!" Miley repeated, pushing her fist into the air again.

"Is this the place?" Lilly asked Miley, who knew about all the famous places in Malibu, having done many concerts there as Hannah Montana.

"Yep!" Miley answered excitedly. "Let's go in!"

So they walked into the theatre and up to the long table that had been set up where refreshments were normally served at concerts. Lilly looked around. She had never been here before. She saw a pair of long, red curtains leading to what Lilly guessed was the stage area. She peeked through and saw a huge stage stretched out from wall to wall, with curtains covering the back half.

_I cannot believe I'm doing this. I don't think I can get up in front of tons of people and be a _-She tried not to gag- _model. _

"What's wrong, Lilly?" Miley had looked over to see Lilly mouthing things to herself and half-gagging, half-gritting her teeth. "Umm, are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lilly reassured her friend. "Okay, so where do we get our info?" She wanted to change the subject fast.

"Excuse me; we are here for the Sparkly Spirits beauty pageant. We would like to know where we could find the information about the pageant that was mentioned on the propaganda that was delivered to our educational facility." Miley smiled. "Old people respect you when you use big words." Miley whispered in Lilly's face.

Lilly looked at the woman Miley was talking to. She looked anything but respectful. There was a big, fake smile slapped across her face. She kept nodding toward Miley and Lilly and saying things like, "Yes, here you go. That should be something important, huh?" And she had this really annoying laugh that sounded like 20 dolphins screeching at once. Lilly couldn't take it, so she switched her attention to the lady's appearance. She was a thin, short woman that looked like she had been doing pageants for years. She had over-plucked eyebrows, which really seemed to bother Lilly for some odd reason. She couldn't stop looking at those brows. When she finally found the strength to move on, she saw that the woman had one gigantic mole just above her lip. Lilly's eye was drawn to it because it was the most profound thing on the woman's face. But this lady's make-up was a very (and when I say very, I mean _very_) close second. The eye shadow was bright orange and clashed horribly with her bright bubble-gum pink lipstick. She was wearing a strange, deep-reddish shade of blush all over her cheeks (and some was even spread around on her nose.) Lilly forced herself to look at this horrifying woman's clothing. The second she laid eyes on it, she really wished she hadn't looked at all. This strange woman was wearing a super tight bright purple blouse. Lilly discreetly looked underneath the table to get a better look at her pants. She pretended to be tying her shoelace, but looked over at the ugliest things she had ever set eyes on. The pants this lady was wearing were bright orange and came to about an inch above her ankles. But the worst part was that she was wearing bright pink sandals (the color was almost identical to her lipstick) over green socks with bright yellow "fishies" on them. They read the label: FISH ARE MY LIFE! That was also in bright yellow.

Lilly had seen enough. She thought the freak show was over, but when she looked up, she saw the biggest pair of boobs ever. It looked as if this woman had gotten about 50 boob jobs, trying to enlarge them each time. Lilly had seen enough. She looked away towards the stage and started to gag again. She hadn't realized that Miley had been collecting information this whole time and was no longer standing next to her. She heard a voice.

"Hello? Ms.? Hello?" It was the strange woman Lilly had been observing.

"Oh. Sorry. Umm, did, you see where my friend went?" Lilly asked the woman.

"Oh, yes, she's just over there collecting some papers." The woman pointed down the table where Miley was holding a huge stack of brightly colored papers. Lilly went over to meet her.

"Hey. Wow, that's a lot of papers. Do we need any more?" She said, scanning the table for a color Miley hadn't yet picked up. She saw a bright yellow sheet and looked back at the pile. No yellow. "Here we go." She said as she handed two sheets of the yellow paper to Miley.

"Ok. That's it." Miley said as she leafed through the stack of papers in her arms.

"Ok, let's go." Lilly said. She was dying to get as far away as she could from that horrifying woman with the over-plucked brows and dolphin-laugh.

When they were outside, Miley divided the papers so each girl had a set. They each looked at the first page.

"Ok, so there's gonna be four portions over a period of four days. So that's one event a day." Miley read off of a bright pink piece of paper.

"Yeah. First is a Q and A. That shouldn't be too hard. What kind of questions do you think they're gonna ask us?"

"I don't know. But I've seen this kind of pageant on TV, and they talk about World Peace a lot, so be sure to mention that in your answer."

"OK."

"Let's see, next is a bathing suit competition."

"A bathing suit competition?"

"Yea." Miley said, flipping through the pages. She stopped at a bright orange page and began to read. "The bathing suit competition will take place on the second day of the pageant. In this event, contestants will model a swimsuit of their own and judges will judge on posture and appearance. Note: Your choice of swimsuit could cost you the crown."

"Cost you the crown? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I guess it just means that these judges are gonna be really tough on things like, your appearance and stuff."

"That's it. I lost!" Lilly sighed, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Why do you think that?"

"Hello? Look at me Miley. I don't exactly have the perfect body. Like you." Lilly looked down. "You're Hannah Montana." She said quietly. "You have to have a good body."

"Oh, come on, Lilly. Just because I'm Hannah Montana doesn't mean I have the perfect body. And just because you're not Hannah Montana doesn't mean you don't have a great body as well." Miley was trying to make Lilly feel better.

'Yeah, I guess you're right. But I still don't think I can model in a bathing suit in front of all those people."

"Oh my gosh!" Miley gasped, looking down at the paper. "Lilly, you're not gonna like this one bit."

"What?"

**A/N Yay! Cliffee! I love those! Thanks again to all my reviewers! Please keep up with my story! P.S. I need 4 more reviews to keep going, so PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. I can't wait for this pageant

**A/N I would like to thank LillyReBelFan, pinkamarmclock, pinknpreppy23, and Garden Spade and luckyducky93 for reviewing! Here's chappie numero tres! Enjoy!**

"Lilly, this pageant is going to be on live TV!" Miley told her worried friend.

"Say what?" Lilly asked, completely dumbfounded.

"No way!" Lilly said, throwing her arms up in the air and shoving her papers toward Miley. "There is no way that I'm doing this pageant now. No. You can't make me change my mind."

"Oh, come on, Lilly," Miley pleaded, shoving Lilly's papers back towards her. "Bering on live TV isn't that bad."

"Yeah, for you. You do it all the time as Hannah Montana!" Lilly practically shouted.

"Can you say it a little louder?" Miley whispered hoarsely. "I don't think the people in that building over there heard you."

"Sorry, Miley. I just don't think I can go do this pageant in front of all of America."

"No, Lilly. You will be able to do this pageant, because we're gonna do it together. And we're not even trying to win or anything. We're just doing this to have fun!"

"Yea, you're right. Again. We're in this together. Through and through."

"Yea!"

"So, what's the next event?"

"Umm… after the bathing suit competition is a talent competition." Miley said, her eyes glued to a bright green piece of paper.

"No way!" Lilly repeated, mimicking her previous actions.

"What's the problem now?" Miley asked, getting a little fed up with all of Lilly's complaining.

"You know what the problem is, Miley. I have absolutely no talent whatsoever!"

"Lilly, you and I both know that is a total lie!"

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Lilly asked, hoping for ideas.

"I figured I would just sing one of Hannah's songs." Miley said with a touch of simplicity.

"Oh man," Lilly whined. "You're gonna win for sure! You sing those songs exactly like her!"

"I wonder why that is!" Miley said sarcastically. "Come on, Lilly, you must have some talent!"

"Not exactly. I mean, the only thing I'm good at is skateboarding. And cheerleading. But I doubt I can- wait a second!" Lilly cut herself off mid-sentence.

"What?" Miley asked. She wondered what crazy idea had popped into Lilly's head this time.

"You know, Miley, I'm good at cheerleading." Lilly began.

"Yea, I know."

"I'm like, really, really good at cheerleading." Lilly went on.

"Yes, Lilly, everyone knows you're good at cheerleading." Miley was a bit confused.

"Miley, don't you see?" Lilly asked, a sly smile appearing on her face.

"No. Not at all." Miley said, still not understanding what Lilly was getting at.

"I can do all my cheerleading stunts as my talent!" Lilly's face lit up.

"Great idea! Lilly, you're gonna do so good!"

"Thanks Miley. So now that we have that all straightened out," Lilly said with a giggle. "What's the next event?"

"This is the last one. It's a poise competition." Miley said, looking at a bright yellow piece of paper.

"What's poise?" Lilly asked with a confused expression.

"Oh, this is the best competition! It's where everyone gets to dress up in long flowing evening gowns and walk around! It's really glamorous and everybody has so much fun! We get to put on all this sophisticated make-up and wear really gorgeous hairstyles! It's gonna be so awesome!"

"Oh, yeah, poise." Lilly said, nodding her head, although she still didn't quit understand what the point was. It was just a bunch of girls walking around tripping on their too-long dresses. What's the big deal? She thought. Then she looked over at Miley, who was reading the paper and smiling to herself, singing one of Hannah Montana's songs. I just have to remember I'm doing this for Miley.

"It says here we're gonna be judged on our posture and gown." Miley said. The girls stood straight and walked forward with their shoulders back. They put on big fake smiles and pretended to wave to an audience. Then they collapsed into a heap of giggles on Miley's front lawn. "That was really fun."

"Yeah; I hope it's like that at the pageant! Without the collapsing part though." Lilly said, breathing hard from laughing so much.

"Yea, that would be a good idea."

"Oh Miley, wait a second. Does it say that you have to bring your own dresses?

"Yea, why?" Miley said, not even glancing down at the bright yellow paper now gleaming in the California sun.

"I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" Lilly cried out.

"Oh, Lilly, you know you can always borrow something of mine!" Miley said.

"What about something of Hannah's?" Lilly asked, her sly smile reappearing,.

"Of course. Hannah has all the best stuff."

"Yea. Can we go and look now?"

"Yea, let's go!"

So the girls went up to Miley's room and went into her closet. They went past her clothes and through a door that said HM on it. They walked into Miley's "Hannah Montana" closet. Lilly looked around, but didn't see any dresses; all she saw were shoes, tops and bottoms.

"Where're all the dresses?" She asked, looking through clothes and beneath vases and couch cushions.

"Are you ready?" Miley asked her.

"For what?" Lilly had stopped trying to look behind where Hannah kept her shoes and looked at Miley, who was holding a remote in her hand.

"This is where I keep all of my really, really cool dresses. They're gonna work really well for the pageant." Miley said and pressed a big red button in the center of the remote. A wide closet came out from the wall behind Lilly. She jumped and ran over to the opposite wall where Miley was standing. Lilly opened her mouth in shock and surprise. She went over to the closet slowly, then looked back at Miley, who nodded for her to continue. Lilly opened to tall doors of the dresser (which slid over sideways, covering a poster of Hannah Montana.) Lilly gazed up at the most wonderful thing she had ever seen.

"Beautiful..." She whispered. She walked closer and took a look at the dresses. They were the long, flowing kind that Miley was talking about. There were all different colors: pastels and brights. There were even a few different ones in blacks and whites.

"Choose any one you like." Miley said walking over. "I wear these when Hannah's invited to fancy places. Like the time I went to the Grammy's."

"You went to the Grammy's?" Lilly asked in total disbelief.

"Yea. I've been there a few times. The last time I went I wore this." Miley pulled a soft pink dress out of the closet. She held it up to Lilly. It came to about her knees. It's supposed to be a mini, but Miley's a bit taller than Lilly, so it's a bit big on her.

"Cute. But not for me. Do you have anything long and flowing, like the dresses you described earlier?" Lilly asked eagerly.

"Of course. What about this one?" Miley said as she pulled out a long, strapless light green dress with dark green sequins on the bodice and hem.

"Oh my gosh! It's perfect!" Lilly cried, grabbing the hanger. I'm gonna go try it on! I'll be right back! And she disappeared out the HM door and into Miley's room, where she put on the dress Miley had had given her. She came back shortly with the dress on and a huge smile on her face. "I love it!" She screamed. She ran over to hug Miley. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Anytime, Lilly. So are you still bummed out about being on national television?"

"Are you kidding? I mean, if you're gonna be on TV, this is the dress to wear!" Lilly looked at herself in the full-body mirror on one of the walls. She turned around and looked at her feet. "Oh, hey Miley, would you happen to have a pair of shoes to go with this dress?" Lilly asked, mimicking Miley's puppy-dog pout.

"Do you really think I would give you a fabulous dress and not supply the shoes to match?" Miley said as she walked over to her shoe racks. She selected a pair of black heels. She handed them to Lilly, who slipped them on. "They fit perfectly! But wait, I thought you were one size smaller than me."

"I am. My grandma got these for me. She doesn't know my size."

"Ohhh. Well, I love these! Thank you thank you thank you!" Lilly ran over to hug Miley again, but tripped because the shoes were so high.

"Oh my gosh Lilly, are you ok?" Miley said rushing over to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I don't think I should wear these shoes. I'm guessing falling down isn't something poised people usually do."

"No, it's not." Miley said and laughed as she helped Lilly to her feet. She went over to her shoe racks and put the black shoes back. "Hmmm… Hey these are size 6!" She took out a pair of light green heels (almost identical to the color of the dress) with tons of sparkly sequins on them.

"A match made in heaven! It's like these shoes were made for this dress. And thankfully, they're not very high." Lilly said. She was right about the height. They were only two-inch heels. Lilly tried to walk again. This time, she made it to Miley without falling down. Lilly hugged her. "Thank you thank you thank you! But wait, what are you gonna wear?"

"The same thing Hannah wore to Ms. Balecho's annual summertime tea party last year." Miley said, pulling out a dress almost identical to Lilly's, but in the color pink. Don't worry, it wasn't televised." She added when she saw Lilly's warning look.

"That's cool. Now we match! Hey, did Hannah wear my dress anywhere?" Lilly asked hopefully.

"Yes, your dress was the replacement at Ms. Balecho's annual summertime tea party last year when Hannah spilled grape juice on the first dress. That waiter had really sweaty palms." Miley said through gritted teeth.

"Awesome! Well, not about the grape juice, but about the whole… yea, I'll never mention that again. So what shoes are you gonna wear? Are they gonna match mine?"

"Yea, I have a pair just like yours but in pink." Miley said, taking a pair off the shelf. She went into her bedroom and put on the outfit. When she came back, she saw Lilly modeling in front of the mirror with Miley's Hannah Montana wig on. She held up a piece of pink fabric and held it to her dress.

"Why hello, Ms. Montana." She said in a sweet old woman's voice. "Oh hello there. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Balecho." Lilly said, trying to sound like Hannah. She shook hands with the air. "Oh, of course I'll take a seat. Thank you very much." She sat down on a couch and pretended to take a drink from a waiter. She then pretended to accidentally spill it all over herself. "Oh, my! Clumsy me! Why, I'll just go change then!" She said and walked into Hannah's dress closet then came back out and sat down again, this time with out the fabric. Miley was still watching from the doorway. She smiled to herself and kept watching. "Oh, dahling, I love your dress!" Lilly said in her sweet old lady voice. "Why thank you. It's a Hannah original, you know." Lilly nodded her head.

"Having fun?" Miley cut in.

"Oh, umm… Sorry." Lilly said and took off the Hannah wig.

"Ms. Balecho does kind of sound like that, you know, but uh… Do I really sound like that?"

"Well, uh… I don't really…" Lilly stuttered."

"Just kidding." Miley said.

"You look great!" Lilly said, trying to change the subject.

"Thanks! You too."

The girls stood in front of the mirror, side by side. The Lilly broke the silence.

"Honestly, I can't wait for this pageant."

**A/N Thanks again to all my humble reviewers! I will try to update more often next time! Sorry this one took so long. P.S. I need five reviews to update this time!**


	4. Oliver is such a dork

**A/N I would like to thank Kiana, the-black-pearl-lives, pinknpreppy23, Supergirrl and Garden Spade for reviewing! Here's chapter 4! Enjoy!**

"Thank you so much for talking me into this pageant, Miley. I'm really excited!" Lilly confessed as she and Miley were walking down the school hallway the day of the pageant. The girls had a sleepover the previous night talking about what they were going to wear and say to the judges. Both girls were very excited. They just couldn't stop talking about the pageant.

"Just think, in a few hours, we'll be on stage being adored by millions of people!" Miley said, envisioning herself at The Club.

"What else is new?" Both girls laughed at Lilly's sarcasm. "You're lucky. You have experience. When I get up there I'm gonna fall for sure."

"You're gonna do great , Lilly."

"Yea, you too, Miley." Lilly said as the girls hugged each other. "One question, though."

"What's that?"

"Can I keep the dress?" Lilly said hopefully. The girls pulled apart and held each other's arms.

"Lemme think about that" Miley paused. "Okay, done thinking. That would be a NO." The girls laughed and pulled into another hug.

Amber and Ashley were outraged. They had been secretly watching the girls and eavesdropping on their conversation from behind a classroom door. Amber and Ashley were also in the pageant and didn't like the fact the Miley and Lilly were planning on doing do well.

"I don't like what I'm hearing!" Amber said fanning herself with her hands.

"I know! We have to like, do something!"

"Sabotage!" The girls said in unison. "Oooooo, ssssss." They hissed, doing their trademark move.

Meanwhile, Miley and Lilly were at Miley's house in her Hannah Montana closet preparing for the first competition. Lilly was standing in front of the full-body mirror

"Wait." Lilly put up a hand to halt Miley, who was putting on some lotion. ("It's just in case we have to shake the judges' hands." She had said.)

"What's the problem?" Miley asked, handing her lotion to Lilly.

"What are we supposed to wear to this thing?" Lilly wondered as she took the lotion and put some on her hands.

"Oh, my gosh! How could we have forgotten about that? Ok, stay calm. Lemme check." Miley grabbed the pages with information on the pageant and flipped through them at light speed. "Uhhhh… Oh! Here we go! The first competition is the Question and Answer." Miley read. "Blah blah blah… We know that already…. Outfits… Outfits… Outfits… Where are the outfits? …Rules… Judging… Oh, here it is! For the first portion of the competition, pageant contestants are to wear casual outfits, such as ones they would wear in everyday life."

"Is that all?" Lilly asked. She looked at her clothes. Today she was wearing a thin, V-neck bright orange long-sleeved hoodie over top of a bright green tank top. Over top of that was a dark green sweatshirt with two light green stripes. She had on dark green cargo pants, her favorite green hat turned to the side, and orange flip-flops. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Hmmm…" Miley said. She looked at her own clothes. She was wearing a brown plaid mini with a bright blue tank top underneath a brown shrug with embroidery along the neck line of pink flowers. She was wearing pink flats. "I don't know. We actually look really cute right now. Let's just keep these clothes on."

"Yea, we do look cute. I hope boys watch this pageant, too." Lilly smiled.

"Speaking of boys, do you know if Oliver's going to come?" Miley asked, looking at Lilly.

"Yea, I talked to him a few days ago."

_Flashback_

"Hey, Oliver!" Lilly said as she was walking down the hallway.

"Hey Lilly. What's up?" Oliver asked, walking over to her.

"You know that pageant Miley and I entered?"

"You guys are still doing that?"

"Yes! Well, are you gonna come?"

"Yea, I guess so. Why? You can't stand not to be around me, huh? You can't get enough of The Smokin' Oaken!" Oliver asked, nudging her elbow. "Eh, eh?"

"Okay, ew. Let's just pretend you didn't say that, okay?"

"Yea, ok. But I will come. All those beautiful women…"

"Oliver? Oliver?" Lilly tried to break the barrier of fantasy that Oliver had secluded himself behind, but to no avail. She gave up and walked away.

_End Flashback_

"Oliver is such a dork." Miley said when Lilly finished telling her story.

"Yea, but he's gonna come, so that's a definite plus…"

Miley looked at the clock. 4:00.pm

"The pageant's at 5:00. We'd better start getting ready." Miley said, standing up. She went over to her vanity. Lilly followed.

"So, what are we going for here?" Lilly asked, taking off her hat and fluffing up her hair.

"Well, do you want to keep your hat on during the pageant?" Miley asked, beginning to brush her hair with a black brush with the letters HM on it in yellow and purple.

"Did you just ask what I think you asked?" Lilly asked Miley in disbelief.

"Do you want to keep your hat on during the pageant?" Miley repeated.

"Of course I'm going to wear my hat to the pageant! It's my hat!" Lilly said as she clutched her hat close to her chest.

"Okay… Well, we can crimp a few pieces of your hair. Like, here, and here, and oh, right here." Miley said, pulling out a few strips of Lilly's hair. She pulled out a black crimper that matched her brush and sat Lilly down on a stool in front of her vanity. She began to crimp random strips of Lilly's hair, until she just decided to give up on random strips and do the whole thing. When she was done, she moved from in front of the mirror and let Lilly see. "Wha-la!"

"I love it!" Lilly cried, standing up and stroking her hair. "But how are you gonna do yours? Oh! Can we curl it! It looked really cute when you had it curled last Friday when we went to the movies."

"Okay, that would be cute!" Miley said, sitting down. Lilly started to curl Miley's hair. It was about 4:45 when she was done.

"Finished!" Lilly said.

"Oh my gosh, Lilly, I love it! Thanks Lilly! Okay, now that our hair looks absolutely fabulous, it's about time we do our make-up!"

"Miley, look at the clock. We've got, like, 10 minutes!" Thankfully, it only took about 2 minutes to drive to The Club. The girls began to apply make-up. Lilly went with soft green eyes and black eyeliner and mascara. She then applied light pink lip gloss. Miley went with a brown eye and blue eyeliner with black mascara. When the girls were done, they went downstairs and shouted for Miley's dad.

"Dad! Dad! Where are you? We've got to be there at 5!" Miley called. Robbie appeared at the doorway of the porch.

"That was tonight?" Robbie asked, sticking his head inside.

"Yea! Come on!" Miley said impatiently. She didn't want to be a minute late.

"I'm sorry darling, I completely forgot. I scheduled to meet with Hannah's stage manager for tonight's concert."

"I have a concert tonight?" Miley asked.

"Yea! But don't worry, it's not until nine. The pageant should be over by then huh?"

"Yea, well, we're both gonna get kicked out of the pageant of we don't leave now!" Lilly said motioning towards the door.

"Dad!" Miley asked.

"Get Jackson to drive you!" Robbie yelled as he went back onto the porch.

"Jackson!" Miley called. He came running down the stairs.

"What is it Miles?" He asked.

"Can you drive me and Lilly to the pageant at The Club and pick us up at 6:30? Please?" Miley asked, bring out her puppy-dog pout again.

"Ahhh, Miles! I was doin my homework!" He looked at her face and sighed. "Aw, who am I kiddin, I don't wanna do my homework. Sure I'll dirve you. I can just stay until it's over, so you don't have to wait. It'll probably be cool, actually. All those beautiful women…" Jackson acted the same way Oliver had, but Miley and Lilly knew better than to try and get him out of his trance. They just pulled on his arm and forced him into his car out front.

"Come on, Loverboy. Let's go!" Miley said to Jackson. And the three got into the car, Miley and Lilly sitting in the back, talking about how excited and nervous they were. Then Jackson started the car and they were off to the pageant.

**A/N I know, sucky ending, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to stop, so here you go. P.S. I need four reviews to continue, so PLEASE REVIEW! I pretty much have the whole thing planned out, except for the very end, but if you have any ideas, do tell me! I'm happy to hear from you! **


	5. What would I do without her?

**A/N Hey everybody! This is One Tough Cookie speaking (I know, a lot of you know me as HomeSkillettBisket, but I changed my name to match a top I bought). Ok, I think I might take you guys up on that idea of Oliver liking someone in the pageant, but I'm not completely sure… And I don't know who yet either… Ok, so, any who, thanks to MileyCyrus1015, angryeyes, ruthie-camden-Brewer, carlita, amylovestakuya, skyfast, luckyducky93, Supergirrl, Moonshine101, Butterfly215, babyquint, lilerin91, Miley-Cyrus Fan -or- sNoWpUpZ, KrazieChikadee, Garden Spade, and kimberly7ox for reviewing! Love ya'll!**

"Oh my gosh! We're there! We're there!" Lilly screamed, jumping out of Jackson's car into The Club's parking lot. She was followed by Miley.

"I know! I'm so excited!" Miley yelled, hugging Lilly. They jumped up and down while hugging.

"I know! I'm just so excited!" Jackson mimicked Miley and Lilly and held his arms out for a hug. Miley and Lilly gave him "The Hand" and walked into the theatre.

"Ok, so, uh, where do we go?" Lilly asked Miley. Both girls looked around. Miley saw a door on the far wall that said: DRESSING ROOM in big letters over top of it. On the door was a piece of pink paper that said: PAGEANT CONTESTANTS ENTER HERE in black lettering.

"I'm guessing over there." Miley said and pointed to the door. Lilly looked and smiled.

"Ooooo… Ok, let's go!" Lilly said and pulled Miley's arm towards the door. There were tons of people in the lobby. The long tables at sign-up were gone and the refreshment tables were back. Many young boys were tugging on their parents sleeves asking for something from the tables. There were a lot of people milling around waiting for the show to start. There were also a lot of excited and nervous-looking girls about Miley and Lilly's age looking around to find where they were supposed to go. Most of them were accompanied by older siblings or parents, all of which looked apprehensive of their daughter's choice to be in a pageant. "Oh my gosh!" Lilly gasped as she and Miley walked into the dressing room. It was a long, white room with brown wooden floors. It was really bright; there were about 30 mirrors with 4 bright light bulbs above every one. The mirrors were lined up on the wall closest to Miley and Lilly. At the end of the room on the wall opposite the mirrors, was a long, red curtain. Miley and Lilly found two free mirrors next to each other and started to rummage through a bag they brought. Lilly looked at the bag and gasped. "Miley!" She said, and pointed to the letters HM on the bag. In small, printed letters above that were the words PROPERTY OF. "They're gonna know!"

"Oh my gosh! I have, like, the exact same bag! Isn't that funny?" A girl that looked to be about 13 came up to Miley and started laughing. She held up her bag. It was black, like Miley's, and had the letters HM on the front. But this bag did not bear the words PROPERTY OF; instead it bore the words #1 FAN OF.

Miley and Lilly let out a sigh. "Yea… how funny." Miley said, and let out a faint laugh as the girl turned away.

"Whew! That was close! They almost got you that time!" Lilly said, wiping her forehead.

"Ya think?" Miley asked sarcastically.

The girls smiled and started to fix their hair and make-up. In about 15 minutes, a tall woman of about 40 called to the girls to hurry and finish. "You're on in about 5 minutes, girls! You'll go on according to your first name. Five at a time! First is Amber Matthews! Then Ashley Christianson! **(A/N I totally made those last names up ;p;)**

At the sound of Amber and Ashley's names, Lilly and Miley winced. "They're in this pageant, too?" Lilly asked in disgust.

"Oh no! Not them!" The girls said simultaneously. "Oooo.. ssss." They imitated Amber and Ashley's trademark.

"Eh, I'm not worried." Lilly said with a wave of her hand.

"Well, what are you then?" Miley asked, stepping away from Lilly and surveying her.

"Me? I'm ready to _crush _the competition!" Lilly said through gritted teeth. She looked over at Amber and Ashley and made fists with her hands. Miley laughed.

"That's the spirit!" Miley said. She looked up at the middle-aged woman yelling into the sea of awaiting girls.

"Come here, everybody! Come here girls! Come here!" The woman shouted. Everyone walked towards the red curtain Lilly had seen the other day. "Please quiet down, girls! Quiet down!" All of the girls obeyed as she began to talk again. "Alright, ladies, the pageant will begin in just a few short moments. Are you all ready?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, then I will go and tell the judges." She disappeared for a minute. Upon her return, she rubbed her hands together and sighed. "Alright, girls, this is it! I will read off the names of who is to go on, and those five people will go onto the stage through this curtain." She indicated a slit in the curtain behind her. "You will sit in the five chairs set up on stage. The judges will ask you each a few questions, and when all five girls are finished answering, you smile at the judges and return backstage through this same curtain. Everybody got it?" She looked around the room and saw most girls nodding their heads. "Okay! Let's go then!" She began to read off of a clipboard as the girls heard the host on stage. The two adults spoke almost in unison. The announcer was a bit behind, since he drew his words out.) "Amber Matthews, Ashley Christianson, Beverly Smith, Carey Jones, and Cecilia Bonika: you're on stage!" The girls filed out in that order; a smile spread wide on each girl's face.

"Man, there sure are a lot of girls here." Lilly said, looking around at the huddled masses.

"Well, the paper said 20. " Miley actually sounded… nervous. Lilly picked up the anxiety in her voice.

"Are you okay, Miley? You sound nervous. Kinda like when you went on that talk show and forgot the words to your own… Yea, I'll stop talking now." Lilly said, looking down.

"Good idea." Miley said, patting Lilly on the back. Five more girls went next, including a girl named Elizabeth Montgomery and Fredrika Kimbaler.

_In the Crowd_

"Whew! That Elizabeth is fine!" Jackson said to Oliver, who was sitting right next to him.

"No kidding! She'd be the best looking person in this room if I wasn't here." Oliver said, looking around then at Jackson.

"Oh, come on! We all know I'm the best looking guy in this room." Jackson said, pulling up his shirt collar. Oliver scoffed.

"You just keep telling yourself that." He said and patted him on the back.

_Backstage_

"Kimberly Gier, Lilly Truscott, Miley Stewart, Narcissa Serga, and Olivia Johnson: You're on stage!" The announcing woman called as the girls heard the host shout their names at the same time.

"That's us! Remember: World Peace!" Miley whispered to Lilly as they began to file onstage. Lilly gave her a thumbs-up.

"Hello ladies!" The host, Jacinda Livingston, said with a smile. She was a very tall woman with long, brown, very straight hair. She was wearing a short, tight bright pink dress and black high-heels. She had a British accent. "I'm Jacinda Livingston, the host of The Sparkly Spirits Beauty Pageant. Let me introduce these girls properly!" Jacinda said as they sat down. The girls sat in the very middle of the stage on black chairs. The chairs had soft cushions on the seat. The judges sat in the very front of the stage behind a table. There was a young smiling lady with curly blond hair, an old, stern-looking man with short brown hair, and another young smiling lady with curly blond hair. The two women looked as if they were twins. "Kimberly Gier," Jacinda began, indicating Kimberly, "is a 12-year-old horse-lover! She owns two horses named Mindy and Lucy! Lilly Truscott is 14-years-old and loves to skateboard and go to the beach! She is also a cheerleader at her school!" Lilly blushed. "Miley Stewart is fourteen-years-old and loves singing and dancing. She is her school's very own- err- mascot!" Jackson and Oliver snickered. Jacinda frowned, but quickly regained her cheeriness and moved on. "Narcissa Serga is a fifteen-year-old dancer! She enjoys salsa dancing at parties and even dances on a neighborhood dance team!" Jacinda pretended to dance and Miley and Lilly rolled their eyes. The crowd laughed. "Finally, we have Olivia Johnson! She is 13-years-old and loves to write! She has written many stories and poems! She even has a few stories published on websites across America! Let's give them all a hand!" She finished, clapping. The audience clapped along. "Now let's introduce our judges to the girls, shall we? Girls, this is Tracey Mason, Keith Harvey, and Lacey Mason! They're going to be judging you girls for each portion of the pageant! Now we are in the first portion, the Q and A! in this competition, each of the judges will ask you a question, and you must answer how you think Miss Sparkly Spirit would answer!" When Lilly hears "Miss Sparkly Spirit" she looked over at Miley questioningly. She didn't remember Miley saying anything about being Miss Sparkly Spirit. _I wonder why Miley didn't say anything. I mean, did she think I wouldn't want to be in this pageant anymore? She wouldn't keep that from me. I don't get it. Miley, Miley, Miley… Why are you keeping things from me? Oh well. I guess I'll just ask her later. _Lilly thought. "Lilly Truscott? Lilly Truscott? Tracey asked you a question. Lilly Truscott?" The first contestant had already gone and Jacinda tried to get Lilly to pay attention, but she was lost in thought. Miley poked her in the arm.

"Hey! Lilly!" Miley whispered. Lilly seemed to snap out of it..

"Oh, I'm sorry. Could you please repeat the question?" Lilly asked, smiling sweetly at the judges. _It'll be hard to make up for that one._ She thought.

"Umm… All right. Lilly Truscott?" Tracey began apprehensively. "Your first question is: Why did you decide to be in the Sparkly Spirits pageant?" She had a valley girl accent.

"Well," Lilly began. "To tell you the truth, I didn't want to be in it at first. My friend, Miley Stewart, this is her here, as you all know, made me be in it. She came up to me at school and begged me to be in this beauty pageant. Blah, blah, blah. She even brought out her puppy-dog pout. And, I mean, no one can say no to that, so I was forced to say yes. And I mean, I'm actually kind of glad that I did because we got together a lot to talk about it and all that stuff and we've spent a lot more time together. So I'm really glad I signed up for it." Lilly started to ramble. "You know, actually, I didn't sign up for it, Miley signed me up. I was too busy looking at the ugly receptionist." Oliver and Jackson snickered at that last remark.

"What an… interesting… answer." Tracey said slowly. Lilly's face fell. She thought the answer was good. _Maybe it was a bit lengthy, but otherwise, I thought it was good. What did Miley say to include in my answer? Oh, yes… World Peace! Ok, I'll try to put that in my next answer. _Lilly's confidence boosted as she thought about future answers.

"Alright… Lilly Truscott." Keith read off a clipboard. "What is your very favorite thing to do?" He spoke in an extremely bored voice.

"Well," Lilly thought for a moment. _Bring everyone peace? That sounds like something Amber or Ashley would say. I guess I've only got one choice. _"That would be skateboarding or checking out hotties, Keith." Lilly said with newfound confidence.

"I'm sure that's completely true, Lilly." Keith said. He actually smiled at her honesty. Lilly smiled back.

"Umm, ok, well, Lilly," Lacey shared her sister's valley girl accent. "What do you hope to accomplish in the future?"

_This is it! I can totally use Miley's advice! _Lilly thought as she looked over to Miley. Miley looked back and smiled. Lilly smiled too. She said. "That would be World Peace!" Lilly smiled sweetly. The crowd applauded loudly and Jacinda was smiling broadly.

"Great answer! Great answer!" Jacinda said, clapping. "Now, moving on to our third contestant, Miley Stewart." Miley smiled. "Judges,"

"Ok, Miley Stewart, if you were to go to a deserted island, what one thing would you take with you?" Tracey asked.

Miley thought for a minute. "I would take my best friend, Lilly, because she makes the best company ever." Miley smiled at Lilly and Lilly smiled back. They squeezed each other's hands. _What would I do without her? _Miley and Lilly thought simultaneously.

"Yes. Alright, Miley Stewart, what is your very favorite thing to do?" Keith asked.

_This is easy. _"My favorite thing to do is singing. I love to brighten the world with my voice. I like making people happy." Miley smiled sweetly. "Awwws" were heard throughout the audience and all three judges, even Keith, smiled.

"Ok, Miley Stewart, tell us, are there two sides to you?" Lacey asked with a mischievous smile.

"This should be good." Jackson whispered to Oliver.

Miley automatically freaked out. _Oh my gosh! Does she know? No! She can't know that I'm Hannah Montana! It's not possible! No! It's just a question, Miley, just a question! Just make sure you don't mention anything about Hannah in your answer. Okay. Yeah. That's fine. _Miley looked at Lilly. Lilly looked a bit freaked out, too..

"It's ok. She doesn't know anything. Calm down." Lilly whispered, seeing Miley's alarmed expression. Miley nodded.

"Umm… I- I don't really think so." Miley stammered uncertainly. "I mean, yeah, every girl acts differently around different people, right? I- I guess I do have another side." Miley was gaining confidence as she went on. "Yeah, I mean, around boys I'm all shy and sweet, kinda like when I want something from my dad." Like, Lilly, she began to ramble. "And then around my friends, I'm all loud and crazy. And then around my teachers, I'm all innocent and "brainy". And then around like, really obnoxious people, like this one guy from my class named Chad, I'm all "Oh no you didn't. And then they're all "Oh yes I did. And then I'm all "Oh no you didn't. And then it gets into a tussle and everyone is everywhere and everything is a total mess. But most of the time I'm pretty normal!" Miley finished. The audience was silent, as were the judges. Then Jacinda spoke up.

"Wow! What an interesting life you lead, Miley!" She said, trying to recover from her daze. "Let's give her a round of applause!" Jacinda began clapping and soon everyone followed suit. Miley breathed a sigh of relief.

_That cut it a bit close. _Miley thought.

The next two girls' questions were a bit easier than Miley's, such as "What is your favorite color and why?" and "What makes you smile the most?" After the pageant, Miley and Lilly met up in the backstage dressing room.

"Stick around, girls! The judging is up next!"

"Oh my gosh, I did so horribly! I so spaced out." Lilly said, looking at herself in the mirror. Suddenly she remembered what she was thinking about. She hesitated. "Hey Miley, why didn't you tell me the winner becomes Miss Sparkly Spirit?"

"Well, I don't know, I guess I forgot. I'm really sorry, Lilly." Miley said, looking at her. She did look sorry.

"Well, it's ok, Miley. I just, I don't know, I don't think I'd make a very good Miss Sparkly Spirit, that's all. But, hey, that was some competition, wasn't it?" Lilly changed the subject fast. She didn't want to make Miley feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, my gosh! I know!" Miley whined, fixing her hair as well. "I totally freaked out when she asked that question about the other side of me."

"Yea, I know! It made me think about that song of Hannah's: The Other Side of Me. The other side, the other side, I wish you could see. The other side, the other side, the other side of meeeeeeeee!" Lilly sang one of Hannah Montana's songs.

"I should do that song tonight." Miley said, laughing.

"Yea that would be-" Lilly was cut off by Amber and Ashley, who had walked up behind Miley. They were wearing matching outfits. Both had on dark pink miniskirts and jackets overtop of light pink short-sleeve shirts.

"What?" Miley asked. She didn't see Amber or Ashley. Lilly pointed. "Oh. What do you guys want?"

"We'd like to speak to Miley." Amber said.

"In private." Ashley put in. Lilly looked at Miley. Miley shrugged and Lilly nodded to let Miley know she approved.

"Ok." Miley said, and walked off with the girls. Lilly was left standing at the mirror when a girl came up to her.

"Is that your friend?" She asked Lilly. Lilly looked at her.

"Umm, yea. Sorry, but, do I know you?" Lilly asked the girl. She was a little shorter than Lilly, with long, black hair. She was wearing a cut-off jean skirt with small jewels in the bottom corner that formed the picture of a flower. She had a cute pink tee on with a picture of a mean-looking chocolate chip cookie and the words: One Tough Cookie. **(A/N LOL I have that exact shirt.)** She was wearing black flip-flops and was smiling at Lilly, revealing a pair of perfectly straight, white teeth.

"My name's Elizabeth. Your friend, she reminds me of someone." Elizabeth said, putting her hand up to her chin.

"Hey, I'm Lilly. Umm… Miley reminds you of someone? Who?"

"Hmm… She looks like that singer, Hannah Montana." Elizabeth smiled.

"Hannah Montana? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know who Hannah Montana is! I didn't say anything! I wasn't even here!" Lilly cried and ran away towards the curtain.

Meanwhile, Miley had been talking to Amber and Ashley by the mirrors they had been preparing at.

"Miley, we have something to tell you." Ashley said, frowning.

"You're not gonna like this." Amber told her, also frowning.

"Umm, what is it?" Miley asked uncertainly.

"You like to work with your friends, right?" Amber asked her.

"Yea, of course." Miley said, smiling.

"And you like to help your friends, right?" Ashley asked her.

"Yes." Miley said.

"But what if that help turned against you?" Amber asked slyly.

"Uhh… What?" Miley had no idea where they were going with this.

Amber sighed. "She doesn't get it, Ashley! Let's just tell her already!" She whined.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead!" Ashley told her.

"Miley, Lilly's bringing you down! We heard her talking with this other girl about how she's just using you to get ahead. When she makes it to the last portion of the pageant, she's gonna drop you on your face." Amber said. She gave Miley a sad look.

"She said… what?" Miley looked around to find Lilly talking to a girl with bouncy red curls. Lilly looked happy.

"We're really sorry." Ashley said.

"We just didn't want you to get hurt." Amber put in.

"I- I have to go." Miley said and went back over to her mirror. She worked hard to keep the tears from falling. Just then, Lilly came over.

"Hey, they're gonna do the judging in a few minutes." Lilly said to Miley.

"Yea, I know. I was listening." Miley snapped at her. She still couldn't believe Lilly was using her to get on top. _I didn't think Lilly could ever do something like that. I- I just- I can't believe it. _

"Are you okay?" Lilly asked. She was concerned about her friend.

"Just leave me alone. I can't talk to you." Miley said, wiping her eyes.

"Miley," Lilly called, but she was already lining up to get back on stage for the judging. "Miley… I… What happened?"

**A/N Finally! Finished! lol Thanks again to my reviewers! I'm so happy with all the reviews I'm getting! Tell me what you think of my story so far and give me tips and ideas if possible! Thanks guys! Oh, and if you caught it, tell me the quote I put in here. Lol thx! **


	6. I know I'm comin back tomorrow

**A/N Hey again, everybody! I just wanna say thanks again to all my reviewers! And yes, I know, that whole Amber and Ashley thing was kinda iffy, but oh well. Let's move on! Lol. Ok, I wanna give a big thank you to Supergirrl, angry eyes, sandylover, lilerin91, MoonShine101, Kiara'sTwin, Garden Spade, luckyducky93, babyqint and Elizabeth for reviwing!1 You guys are awesome! So here we are with chappie numero 6.**

_Well, I better get in line, huh? I don't wanna miss the judging. _Lilly thought to herself as she watched Miley. She still didn't understand why Miley had snapped at her like that. She got in line behind Kimberly Gier. She looked back towards Miley, but Miley ignored her and started to talk to Narcissa Serga, who was standing behind her. Lilly looked forward again, and was slapped in the face with Kimberly's long, blonde hair. It reminded Lilly of her own.

"Pssht." Lilly sputtered, trying to get the hair out of her face. She shook her head. "Today is just not my day!" She said to herself.

"Okay, everyone, I hope you're ready, because it's time to go out for the judging." Mary, the backstage manager, said to the girls. There were squeals of anticipation and excitement throughout the girls. "Let's go!" She guided the now silent girls out through the curtain. They now stood in two straight lines of ten across the stage. Miley and Lilly were split up. Lilly was in the first line and Miley was in the second. Jacinda was standing in front of them with a microphone in her hand.

"Hello again, girls!" She said with a smile. "It is time for the judges to decide who is in, and who is out. Five of you will be out, so that leaves 15 of you still in. Judges…" She said, implying that she was finished.

"Alright, you all were fantastic, but sadly, we can only pick 15 of you to be in." Tracey began. "We will call the names of those who are still in. If your name is called, you need to come and stand over by Ms. Livingston." She indicated Jacinda, who had moved to the right side of the stage.

"Kimberly Gier, you are in." Keith said. Kimberly squealed and walked over to Jacinda. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Rachel Martin, you are in." Lacey said, smiling. A girl with long, brown, curly hair walked over to Jacinda. She didn't show any trace of happiness.

_Those serious pageant-type people are just so strange. _Lilly thought to herself as she watched Rachel walk across the stage.

"Elizabeth Montgomery, you are in." Tracey said. Oliver and Jackson nudged each other as Elizabeth smiled and stood next to Rachel.

"I know I'm comin back tomorrow." Jackson said, smiling strangely. Oliver nodded.

"Oh, yeah." He said, and arched his eyebrow. He smiled.

"Amber Matthews, you are in!" Keith said. Amber clapped her hands and went to stand over by Elizabeth.

"Ashley Christianson, you are in." Lacey said. Ashley mimicked Amber's actions and stood next to her. They hugged.

"Lilly Truscott, you are in." Tracey said. Lilly smiled and looked over at Miley, then remembered they weren't talking. She smiled and walked over to Ashley. Ashley smiled at her. Lilly frowned and raised one eyebrow.

"Miley Stewart, you are in." Lacey said. Miley half-smiled and walked over to the row of girls standing next to Jacinda. Then 8 other names got called and 8 other girls excitedly rushed to the winners' line.

"You all did very well today, girls! Let's give them one more round of applause!" Jacinda said to the 5 depressed-looking girls standing in the middle of the stage. The audience cheered loudly. "We'll see you tomorrow, ladies! Good night!" She waved and the girls went backstage once more. Lilly wanted to talk to Miley. After all, she was her ride home. She also wanted to ask her about earlier. She looked through the crowd of excited and disappointed girls. She saw Miley's head: long, brown, curly hair. She walked over to her.

"Hey Miley," Lilly began. The girl turned around and was not Miley at all. Instead it was the girl named Rachel that Lilly had thought was rather strange. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my friend, Miley."

"Umm… No. I am Rachel Martin. Pleased to your acquaintance make." She said with a very strong Russian accent. _I thought this was an American pageant. _Lilly thought to herself. _Why does everyone I talk to have an accent? _The girls shook hands.

"Oh, hi, umm… Congratulations on making it to the next round." Lilly said awkwardly.

"Oh, you, too. We will be seeing each other more often lots. It is good to have a few friends." _Can I trust her? _Lilly thought. _Yea, you can trust the Russian. Or was that the Czechoslovakian? Or both? Or… oh whatever._

"Yea, well, it looks like you're the only friend I've got right now." Lilly opened up to her. Rachel looked concerned. "It _was_ the Russian!" Lilly shouted. Rachel looked at her, confused. "Did I say that out loud?" Lilly asked, looking around. Rachel nodded.

"Yes, well, umm… what do you mean when you say, "the only friend you've got?"

"Well, you know the girl I mistook you for? Her name's Miley?" Rachel nodded. "Well, right before the judging, she got all hostile, and I don't know what came over her. She's usually a really cool person." Lilly shrugged.

"Well, maybe it was the pressure of the pageant. That can tear the closest friends even apart." Lilly considered that.

"Well, what should I do?" Lilly asked, looking into Rachel's eyes. They were an icy blue. They made Lilly shudder.

"Well, if she can't handle the pressure, why you should have to?" Lilly couldn't tell where Rachel was going with this.

"Huh?"

"If Miley thinks okay it's to dump her friends, then why you can't?" It took Lilly a minute to sort through Rachel's mixed-up words, but she finally understood.

"If Miley thinks it's ok to dump me, why can't I dump her? I see what you mean, but Miley's my best friend. She's awesome." Lilly was thinking of all the good timed they've had. Then she thought of the bad. She realized that Rachel's words could possibly be true. "Thanks, Rachel; you've helped me realize something. I guess friendships don't always last a lifetime." And with those final words, she left the building. _Rachel is totally right. Why should I take Miley's crap? I should be dishing out some of my own!_

"Hey Lilly; you ready to go?" Jackson asked, getting into his car.

"No. I'm not going home with you guys."

"Umm… ok."

"Hey, Jackson, can you tell Miley something for me?" Lilly asked, adjusting her hat so that it was tight down on the right side of her face.

"Sure, what?" Jackson asked, looking up at her.

"Tell her that…" She licked her lips and thought for a second. "Tell her that I don't wanna be her friend anymore, and she can have her stupid grape juice dress back. Thanks. Bye." She took off down the street. Jackson was left sitting in his car, dumbfounded.

"Did I miss something?" Jackson asked himself. "Whatever." He turned on the radio. He sang along in a high-pitched girly voice. "Don't let nobody tell you your life is over. Be every color that you are. Into the rush now, you don't have to know how. Know it all before you try." It was Aly and Aj's song: Rush. Just then Miley came up.

"I cannot belive we're related." She said and got into the passenger seat.

"You may have gotten the voice, but I…" He smiled. "I got the looks." He examined himself in the rearview mirror. "Man I look good."

"Please… Just take me home. I have a concert tonight, remember?"

"Don't you wanna know where Lilly is?" Jackson asked her, though he knew perfectly well that Lilly had gone home already.

"Yea! Where is she?" Miley's face fell as she remembered Lilly and their fight. _I can't belive I actually believed Amber and Ashley. I'm so stupid. We vowed to be honest to each other, always and forever. Lilly would never do anything like that, and I should have known better. I need to talk to her and apologize. _Miley thought as she closed her eyes.

"She went home. She gave me a message for you, though." He started the car. Miley opened her eyes.

"What was it!" She asked eagerly. Jackson backed out of the parking lot and stated to drive down the street. Lilly was long gone by now.

"She said: Tell her that I don't wanna be her friend anymore, and she can have her stupid grape juice dress back. Thanks. Bye." He smiled at her.

"Oh my gosh! No! This is all my fault! Uggh!" She roared. "I'm so stupid! Why did I belive Amber and Ashley? I mean, they think they're so awesome. They probably got a great laugh over my falling for their stupid prank. I mean, why would they do that anyway? It's not like they would gain anything from- Wait a second. That's it! Why didn't I see it before? I am so stupid! Uggh!" She hit herself on the head several times.

"What in the dear Lord's name are you talking about?" Jackson inquired. He didn't understand a word of Miley's blabbering. He told her the whole story, including Amber and Ashley tricking her into thinking Lilly was using her so Miley would turn against her and they would do better in the pageant. "Ohhhh… And now you feel bad because you were mean to Lilly and now Lilly hates you?" They pulled into their driveway.

"Exactly. Uggh, this is horrible! What am I gonna do?" She got out of the car and went inside to find her dad. "Daddy?" She called. She found him in the kitchen, making popcorn.

"Hey darlin. How was the movie?" He said, turning around to face her.

"What? I didn't go to a movie. I was at a pageant, remember?" She sat down next to him.

"What's the matter, Miley?" He pulled out his popcorn, opened it and poured it into a big glass bowl.

"Oh, dad, everything's the matter. My friendship with Lilly is totally ruined, and it's all my fault." She took Robbie's popcorn bowl and shoved handfuls into her mouth.

"Go ahead. It's not like I was gonna eat that or anything." He said sarcastically. "Now, what happened, honey?" Miley told him all about it. She was getting tired of telling the story over and over. "I see." He said when she had finished. "But why did you believe those girls? Why didn't you just talk to Lilly about it?"

"I don't know. Maybe all the pressure from the pageant was getting to me. I mean, I'm trying to take this seriously. I guess that's why Amber and Ashley talked to me instead of Lilly." Miley's face fell.

"Well darlin, if you started the fight in a small way, make up for it in a big way. Now gimme back my popcorn. You got a concert in an hour and a half. Go do whatever you do before a concert." He took the bowl from her hands.

"My concert!" Miley thought of a way to make things better with Lilly. _It's these times that make me glad I'm Hannah Montana. _She thought.

**A/N Yea, I know, another short chapter, but if I continued, it would be way too long. So… thanks reviewers and if you have any ideas or tips or suggestions, do tell! Thanks very much! Oh, and if anyone noticed, I based Ms. Jacinda Livingston on the host, Heidi Klum, (I think that's her name) of Project Runway. It's a show on Bravo. New episodes every Wednesday! Tell me if you watch it, we can discuss how this new Wendy Pepper character is going to take over like last season... lol That probably sounded really weird if you've never seen the show before. lol Well, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	7. I forgive you, Miley

**A/N Hey peeps! Me again! I just wanna give a shout out to luglove's story. It's pretty good. I LOVE HANNAH MONTANA STORIES! Lol. Sorry. Lost it there for a sec. Lol. Ok, well, I just wanna say thank you to MoonShine101, luglove, KrazieChikadee, Supergirrl, Garden Spade, TroyLvr51, angry eyes, and lilerin91 for reviewing! I love you all! Lol! Ok, well, here's chapter 6 with Hannah's master plan. Lol.**

Miley rushed upstairs to her room and tore through her bedside- table drawer. She held up a bright pink notebook. "A-ha!" She said. She went over to her desk (which was on the other side of her bed) and pulled open the smallest drawer. "Here you are!" She said to a bright pink pen with a bunch of fuzz on the top. She began writing furiously in her notebook. She sang a few lines, and then scratched out a word or two, only to write the same thing again. After about an hour, she held up the notebook and sang what she wrote softly to herself. "Yes." She said, smiling. She put the notebook on her bed and gave it a little pat. Then she skipped into her Hannah Montana closet to get ready for her concert. She put on a ripped- up pair of jeans, a pair of brown cowgirl boots, and a white tank top with black sequins all over it. "I'm so sorry, Lilly." And with that she put on a black jacket that Lilly gave her for Christmas the previous year. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was messed up because she was lying on her bed while writing, and her make-up was smeared because she kept rubbing her eyes when she couldn't think of just the right thing to say; but other than that she thought she looked pretty good. She smiled at her reflection and grabbed her blond Hannah wig. Then she went back into her room. She grabbed her notebook and went downstairs. "Daddy! Where are ya? I gotta show ya something!" She yelled, standing in the middle of the kitchen, notebook in hand. He looked at her from the couch, about two feet in front of her. "Oh. There you are."

"What is it, darlin?" He said, giving her a look of doubt.

"This is the song I wanna sing tonight." She said, plopping down next to him and brandishing her open notebook.

"I though you were doin Best of Both Worlds and This is the Life." He said, taking the notebook from her. "What is this? I've never seen it before." He flipped through the notebook, reading the song.

"I'm singing that song. And you can't stop me. And I wanna do The Other Side of Me too." She added, remembering when she and Lilly laughed about the song she should sing.

"Well, do you have music? You can't sing with out music." He started to cave.

"Turn the page." Miley said, rolling her eyes. He did so to find two pages of notes.

"Got a pen?" He asked. She pulled out the fuzzy pen from her back pocket and handed it to him. "Thanks." He scratched out some of her writing and added some of his own. "There you go. Good song. Ya got the Stewart song- writin gene! Good for you!" He smiled and embraced his daughter. Just then Jackson walked into the room.

"Na na na na! Na na na na! Yea yea! Na na na na! Na na na na! Na na na na! Yea yea! I am so awesome! Oh yes, yes, yes. Na na na! Yea yea! Oh, Jackson! Jackson! All the girls say: Jackson! Jackson! Sing it girls! Yea, yea! Jackson!" He sang in a shrill, girly voice.

"Too bad we can't say the same for your brother." Robbie said and they smiled. "Well, if we want the band to learn this song, we better get going. Come, Miss Montana." He said and held out his hand. Miley took it and they walked to the door. Miley stopped.

"Shouldn't we tell Jackson we're going?" She asked, pointing at him. Robbie looked at him, and then at Miley. They nodded towards each other.

"JACKSON!" They both yelled. Jackson stopped singing and looked over at them. He hadn't even realized they were there.

"Yea?" He asked.

"We're leaving for a concert. We'll be back around 10:30, 11:00." Robbie told him.

"Okay. Hey, Miles, you should sing this song I made up. Wanna hear it?" Jackson asked, opening his mouth to sing.

"NO!" Robbie and Miley screamed simultaneously. They couldn't take another helping of "The Jackson Song".

"I mean, we really have to go. Bye!" Miley said, seeing his downhearted look. They waved and ran out the door. They got into their limo and sped off towards the place Hannah's concert took place. In the car, Hannah nervously put on her wig. She couldn't help but squirm. She was so anxious about the song she would be performing that night. When they pulled up, they saw tons of screaming fans waiting for Hannah Montana.

"Here we go!" She said, and stepped out of the limo. "Hey everybody! Hi! Hey guys!" She waved to her fans as she walked to the back of the arena with her father/bodyguard. She noticed TV cameras out front and thought: _Perfect._

"Coming through! Make way! Hannah Montana comin through!" Robbie yelled to the fans trying to get in through the back door. As soon as they saw Hannah they started to jump all over her. Robbie had to pull 3 kids off of her; the rest he could just scream at and they would back off. "Crazy people." He muttered. They were now backstage. Hannah went into her dressing room where a bunch of hair and make-up specialists fixed up her appearance. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Hannah yelled. Robbie walked in the door with Miley's song paper in his hand. He cleared his throat and the hair and make-up people left the room.

"Now you memorized this song, right?" He asked, handing her the paper.

"Yes. Did the band learn it?"

"Yea. They're practicing right now. They sound pretty good." He sat down next to her on a light pink couch. "I'm real proud of ya, darlin. You did good." He kissed her forehead.

"Thanks daddy." They hugged. Robbie stood up, and Hannah followed suit.

"Now go practice with the band. They're in Sound Room 3." Hannah smiled at her dad then left. In a half an hour, Hannah and the band had gotten her song down pact, and they were ready to perform.

_Backstage_

"Hannah Montana, you're on in 5!" A voice called over a loudspeaker.

"This is it." Hannah said to herself. "Hey Lola," She began, then realized "Lola" wasn't there. _She's not coming. _

_Lilly's House_

"I'm in my room, Mom!" Lilly called to her mother, who was screaming at her, asking where she was. Lilly sat on her bed and turned on the TV. She was wearing a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers. She had just showered, so her hair was up on top of her head in a towel. "I can't belive I'm doing this." She said, and turned the TV to the music channel.

"In just a few minutes, Hannah Montana is going onstage." A TV announcer said. "Word has gotten out about Hannah's brand new, never-before-heard song that she will be signing tonight." That got Lilly interested.

_Backstage_

"Hannah Montana, you're onstage in 10 seconds!" Came the voice over the loudspeaker.

"Here we go!" Hannah said to herself. She ran onstage, yelling and smiling. "Hey everybody!" She yelled into the crowd. She walked over to the microphone set up in the middle of the stage and adjusted it so it was in front of her mouth. "Hey everybody! Thanks for coming! My first song, as you all know, is a new one. I would like to dedicate it to a special person. I think she knows who she is. If you're watching this, then I want you to know that… I'm sorry." The crowd was silent.

Lilly gasped.

Hannah sat down on a stool that was set up a few feet away and pulled the microphone over to her. The band began playing and she started to sway to the music. Then Hannah sang.

_Completing the impossible,_

_Achieving all your dreams, _

_This can be easier said than done,_

_Or this can be simpler than it seems._

_If you let those you're close to_

_Help you out when you are stuck,_

_Hey, you never know,_

_They may just bring you luck._

_Never doubt what's in your heart,_

_Always keep your head up high,_

_Begin your day with an exciting start._

_These are words we all should live by._

_(Words to live by, words to live by)_

_So everybody listen now._

_I am gonna tell you how_

_To make it so everything's the way it seems._

_It'll be better than your wildest dreams!_

_Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Everybody listen now! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I am gonna tell you how,_

_So never doubt what's in your heart,_

_Always keep your head up high,_

_Begin your day with an exciting start,_

_These are words we all should live by. _

_(Words to live by, words to live by)_

_But keep one thing in your head,_

_This is something you need to know._

_Don't take this for granted,_

_This is the way to go._

_Friendship is the most important thing_

_(Ooo yeah)_

_If you loose that, you've lost everything._

_(Ooo yeah)_

_Keep your friends as close as you can,_

_Oh, yeah, yeah,_

_You never know when you'll need a helping hand._

_Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!_

_So now you know, now you know why,_

_These are words we all should live by_

_Words to live by, words to live by!_

_Words, to live by…_

As Lilly listened, a smile appeared on her face. "I forgive you, Miley."

**A/N Lol. I made that song up myself. Tell me what you thought of it. Lol. PLEASE REVIEW! You know, I don't know what I would do without you guys… tear**


	8. YOU ALMOST KISSED OLIVER?

**A/N Hello everyone! I'm ready to come out with my deepest darkest secret now! Here goes: I Am MILEY CYRUS! I know, I know, it's unbelievable, but extremely true. My full name is Destiny Hope Cyrus. I got the nickname Miley because when I was little, I was called "Smiley" by my dad. LOL! Oh, and my brother is Jason Earles! Yay! Well, anyway, I'm glad you all liked my song! Thanks to K-Fuzzy215, KRiSTiNAwasHeRe, Coolgirly, Garden Spade, NCooper, That Shape in the Shadows, lilerin91, the one called Moonshine101, full of drama and Xxmore-THAN-MEETS-DA-eyexX for reviewing! You guys are awesome! Here's the next chapter!**

The next day, Lilly went over to Miley's house before school. She rang the doorbell and Miley opened the door. There was a moment of silence as the two girls looked around, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry!" They said simultaneously. They rushed towards each other and embraced one another in a tight hug.

"I had no right to be mean to you!" Lilly said as they broke apart.

"No! It was my fault! I got totally jealous!" Miley insisted.

"I shouldn't have listened to that girl backstage!"

"I shouldn't have listened to Amber and Ashley!"

"Friends?" They asked together.

"Always!" They answered each other at the same time. They hugged each other again. Then they broke apart and went inside the house, laughing.

"Hey girls, I see you've made up." Robbie said to them as they walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

The girls smiled at each other and nodded towards Robbie. Miley pulled two bowls and a box of cereal towards her and Lilly. Miley poured some of the Captain Crunch into her bowl. It was about half full. She passed the box to Lilly, who filled her bowl to the very top with cereal. Miley looked at the bowl and then at her friend.

"What? I didn't eat breakfast." She shrugged. The girls went back to eating their cereal. When both girls had finished, they rose from the table.

"You girls better get goin. You're gonna miss the bus." Robbie told them. "You too, Jackson!" He yelled up the stairs, where Jackson was in his room, getting ready.

"Yeah, yeah!" He yelled back.

"Bye, Daddy!" Miley said to Robbie and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, Lilly, let's go!" She waved towards Lilly to follow her out the door. They walked to the bus stop, laughing about how stupid they were for being angry with each other.

In School

As Miley and Lilly walked down the hallway before 1st period, they saw Oliver standing at his locker. He was trying to pull out his books, but having great difficulty in doing so. There were so many things jam-packed in his locker, that the books had almost no room and were all squeezed together. Oliver grabbed the books with two hands and heaved with all his might. Everything fell out all over the place. Miley and Lilly giggled. They ran over to help him out.

"Nice one, ding-dong." Lilly teased as she Miley bent down and help Oliver pick up his things.

"It's not my fault!" Oliver protested.

"Yes it is!" The girls said in unison.

"Ok, well maybe it is, but…" He picked up a piece of cheese that was hidden underneath an English paper and thought for a second. "Oh, yeah." He smiled to himself. The girls raised their eyebrows at their friend, but decided to leave it alone.

"So, Oliver, how did you like the pageant last night?" Miley asked, changing the subject fast.

"Oh, it was great! You guys were awesome!" he exclaimed. Miley and Lilly grinned.

"Thanks. You know, it's harder than it looks on TV." Lilly confessed.

"You can say that again." Miley agreed.

"You know, it's harder that it looks on TV." Lilly repeated. The other two stared at her, then burst out laughing. Lilly didn't get the joke. "What?"

"I was being sarcastic, Lilly." Miley said, laughing again at her very confused friend.

"Ohhh…" She realized. All three laughed as they finished picking up Oliver's things.

_Miley's House (1 hour before next competition)_

Miley and Lilly were going to raid Hannah's closet for swimsuits to wear for the pageant.

"So let's see what we got here." Miley said as they walked past her closet and into Hannah Montana's. Lilly watched as Miley went over to a small table and picked up her remote. She pushed a green button and looked over at Lilly. Suddenly, Lilly heard a sound from behind her. She ran over to Miley as part of the wall slowly came out where a poster of Hannah Montana: live in concert was hanging.

"What the-?" Lilly was astounded at how many parts of Miley's wall came out to be closets. This one bore the words: HM swimwear.

"Go ahead. Take a look." Miley said, nudging Lilly closer to the closet. Lilly walked up to it and pulled open the tall wood doors. She looked inside and saw about 15 bathing suits, all of which she knew she would find to her liking. She stepped closer and took out a few suits. She looked at what she held in her hand. There were three swimsuits: a two-piece with a sparkly white top and a black bottom with a rim that matches the top (the tope showed a bit more cleavage then she would have liked, but it was till adorable), a hot pink one piece that would hardly cover any of her stomach, and a two-piece with a black bottom and a black and white low-cut top (One side of the top was white; the other was black). "I thought you hated your body." Miley said to Lilly as she examined the suits in her hands, all of which were quite revealing.

"Well, I thought I did, but I had a talk with Oliver last night. You know, when I was still mad at you. I called him to get advice on this whole situation." Miley gave her a weird look. "I know what you're thinking. Why did I go to Oliver and not my parents or whatever? Well, I think it was because I know I can trust him and he'll give me honest answers. He's cool that way." Lilly smiled to herself.

"Well, what did you guys talk about?" Miley asked.

'Well…"

_Flashback_

Lilly walked into her room. She had just gotten home from the first competition, and she was very close to tears. She went over to her bed and picked up her phone from the bedside table. She dialed Oliver's number and sat down on the bed.

"Please pick up." She hoped aloud. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" Came his voice.

"Hi, Oliver!" Lilly was so relieved.

"Lilly? Are you okay?" He noticed tension in her voice. He could hear her sniffling, trying to hold back the tears. But they came anyway. She sobbed into the phone. "Lilly? What's wrong?"

"Everything, Oliver. Everything is wrong." She sobbed some more before talking again. "Today, after the pageant, Miley was acting really weird. It seemed like she didn't want to be my friend anymore. She seemed really mad at me. And I don't even know what I did, Oliver! It was so horrible. I have no idea what happened between us. I'm starting to think entering this pageant was a bad idea." She had stopped crying, but her constant sniffles were quite audible over the phone.

"Oh, Lilly, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over there?"

"Could you? That would be great."

"I'll be right there."

"Hey Oliver,"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Lilly said, and hung up the phone. In a few minutes, her doorbell rang. It wasn't long before she heard her mom open the door and greet Oliver.

"I didn't know you were coming over, Oliver. I would have made something you guys could snack on." Lilly heard her mom say.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Truscott, it's no problem. I just came over to talk to Lilly for a little while." _Oliver was always so polite when he came over._ _That seems so strange. The Oliver I know is usually loud and obnoxious. _Lilly thought. She chuckled. Just then Oliver came up and knocked on the open door.

"Knock, knock." He said, smiling. Lilly looked up at him. Her face was wet from crying, and her hair was messed up from lying on the bed with her pillow in her face.

"Hey. Thanks for coming over." Lilly said. Oliver walked over to her bed and sat down next to her.

"No problem." He said. He put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry about what happened between you and Miley. Don't worry. She'll come around." He pulled her into a warm hug.

"Thanks, Oliver. You're a great friend." They smiled at each other as they pulled apart. "Hey, Oliver, can I ask your advice on something?"

"Sure, anything."

"Well, the next competition is gonna be a little weird for me." She said uncomfortably.

"Why?"

"Well, it's a bathing suit competition."

"And why would that be weird for you?"

"Because, Oliver, I don't exactly have the model body. Just look at me." She avoided his eyes.

"Are you serious?" He asked. A smile broke out on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Lilly asked. She didn't exactly think this was a laughing matter.

"Lilly, you have one of the hottest bodies I've ever seen."

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you know, coming from a guy's point of view, you'd look really hot in a swimsuit." He realized what he said and put his face in his hands.

"You think so?" Lilly stood up and closed her door. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of it.

"Well, yeah, Lilly, I do think so." His embarrassment was gone. He stood up and walked over to Lilly. He stood behind her and looked at her in the mirror. He took her hands in his as he placed his chin on her shoulder. They gazed into each other's eyes as Oliver moved closer. Their lips almost touched. Just then, the door swung wide open. It was Lilly's mom. They tray of finger sandwiches she was holding fell to the floor when she saw her daughter seconds away from kissing Oliver.

"Mom!" Lilly yelled as she and Oliver backed away from each other. "This isn't what it looks like, I swear!" Mrs. Truscott was speechless. She kept looking from Lilly to Oliver.

"I-I think I'm gonna go." Oliver said, inching towards the door.

"Bye." Lilly said to him.

"Give her another chance." Oliver whispered to her as he walked past Lilly's silent mother and out of the room.

"I-I'm gonna go take a shower, now." Lilly started towards her bathroom.

"You do that." Her mother finally spoke. With those few words, she turned and left the room. Lilly sighed.

_End Flashback_

"YOU ALMOST KISSED OLIVER?" Miley asked excitedly when Lilly was done.

"Well, yeah."

"Oh my gosh! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"It never came up."

"Oh my gosh! That is so weird! You guys are like, perfect for each other! So… do you like him?" She smiled slyly.

"I don't know." Lilly looked at the floor.

"Well, you _were_ going to kiss him back, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh my gosh, Lilly, you like him!" She grinned.

"Maybe I do."

"Well, he totally likes you. Too bad your mom came in and ruined your kiss."

"Yeah."

"You guys would be so cute together, you know. You should totally go for it." Miley started looking through her swimsuit closet.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, totally! Alright, which one?" She said, pulling out two suits. One was a light pink one-piece; the other was a deep blue two-piece. "The one-piece has an interesting style, but the color isn't one of my favorites, and the two-piece has a plain style, but I love the color."

"Go with the two-piece. It's cuter."

"Okay." Miley said as she put the other one back away. "Okay, since Oliver is coming tonight, you need to look really fantastic." She looked at the swimsuits in Lilly's hand and took the two-piece with the black bottom and the black and white top. "How about this one?" She suggested.

"Sounds great!"

"Okay, I'll go into my room and try on mine, and you can stay in here and try on yours." Miley said. She walked into her room with her bathing suit in hand. Lilly put the two other swimsuits back into the closet before changing. In a few minutes, Miley knocked on the door. "All done?"

"Yep!" Lilly called as Miley walked in. They stood in front of Miley's full-length mirror again to look at themselves.

"I'll bet this brings back memories." Miley teased.

"Shut up! We didn't kiss!"

"Yeah, but you were about to."

"Yea, I know." They laughed.

"Well, to go with these fabulous swimsuits, we need some awesome hairdos!" Miley exclaimed, walking over to her vanity. She plopped down on the seat while Lilly walked over and looked into the mirror. They started to fix their hair. After about 15 minutes, they were finished. Miley's hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and Lilly's hair was in a messy French braid. Both girls had strands of hair sticking out all over the place. They looked at each other and smiled.

"You look awesome!" They said together. They laughed and went over to the full-length mirror for one final look. They smiled at their reflections.

"Umm, Miley, are we going to walk around in just these swimsuits?" Lilly asked nervously. Miley gave her a look. "It's not that I hate my body, it's just that, I don't want your dad and Jackson to see me like this."

"Yeah, that would be a little weird, huh? How about we wear these robes? They match our bathing suits." She said, picking up two robes: one was light blue, the other was black. She threw the black one to Lilly, and put the blue one on herself. They put their shoes back on and went downstairs. They found Robbie and Jackson sitting at the kitchen table; Robbie was reading, and Jackson was eating a bowl of cereal. "Cereal this late?" Miley asked him. He looked up.

"It's Cap'n Crunch; my favorite." He said coyly. It was a half an hour until the pageant started, and the girls were as anxious as ever.

"Well, are you almost done? We want to be there early this time so we have time to get ready." Miley asked him.

"Get ready for what?" Robbie asked, looking up from his papers.

"The pageant, dad! Remember? We went yesterday!" Miley sighed as her father thought about the previous day.

"Nope; not ringin any bells." He said, going back to his papers.

"Any who, I'm done, so we can go." Jackson said, getting up from the table and putting his bowl in the sink.

"Okay, we'll be waiting in the car." Miley said, taking Lilly's arm and pulling her to the door.

"Catch ya later Mr. Stewart!" Lilly called as they were walking through the door.

"Have fun, girls!" He answered without looking up.

"Bye Dad!" Jackson said, grabbing his keys.

"Hey Jackson, why are you so eager to go to a beauty pageant?" Robbie asked Jackson before he escaped through the open door.

"Well," He stopped and turned around. "I just wanna support Miles, you know. I mean, what would she be without her loving brother?" He put his hand on his heart.

"An only child." Robbie joked. Jackson didn't laugh. Instead, he made a face and walked out the door.

When they got to The Club, Miley and Lilly said goodbye to Jackson and ran inside to find a few girls standing around in robes and swimsuits, talking to each other or their parents. Miley and Lilly went over to the dressing room door and entered the brightly lit room once again. There were about 11 girls huddled around mirrors, fixing their hair and make-up. A few girls were standing around in their swimsuits talking to each other.

"I wonder if Oliver is here." Lilly said, looking at the deep red curtain. She walked over to it with Miley right on her tail.

"I doubt he would miss this for the world." Miley said dreamily. Lilly shoved her playfully. They both laughed as Lilly pulled back the corner of the curtain a bit and peered through.

"Who is _she_?" Lilly asked, looking over at Miley.

"Who?" Miley asked, looking through the curtain as well. "Oh my gosh!" They were looking at the girl sitting right next to Oliver. They obviously knew each other; they were talking and laughing. She whispered in Oliver's ear and he smiled at her. Miley was silent. She couldn't take her eyes off the girl; she looked so familiar. Miley looked over to her friend to see how she was taking this. Lilly tore away from the curtain and started towards the door.

"How could he?" She said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

**A/N Finally finished! That took a while. Well, plz review! Love u all! Lol! I hope you guys don't really believe I'm Miley. It's just my "alternate identity" if you know what I mean. Wink wink…**


	9. You really like him, don't you?

**Hey everybody! Sorry it took me so long to update last time! I really didn't mean to take so long. I would like to thank lilerin91, NCooper, AlwaysxAddicted, thecreative1, and Garden Spade for reviewing! Here's chappie number 9! **

"Lilly! Lilly, wait!" Miley shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the door.

"What?" She asked harshly. She was in tears.

"Lilly, it's okay. Don't let him spoil your whole night."

"I know I shouldn't even have these feelings for him, Miley, but I do, and I can't stop them from coming."

"It's okay that you have feelings for Oliver, but you shouldn't let those feelings ruin this pageant for you. Come on, Lilly. Just forget about him."

"That's just it! I can't forget about him, Miley! I just can't…" She began sobbing quietly.

"You really like him, don't you?" Miley understood Lilly's feelings.

"Yeah. I thought he liked me too, but I guess not." She looked at her feet.

"How about this; we do the pageant tonight, and then we can ask Oliver who that girl is when it's over." Miley suggested hopefully. She still couldn't figure out where she had seen that girl before.

"Yeah, okay." Lilly agreed. She seemed more self conscious now. She tightly held her robe over her body as they walked over to a mirror and began fixing their hair. Soon the rest of the girls arrived along with the stage manager.

"Alright!" The stage manager said, walking to the center of the room. "It is almost time for you al to go on stage. In this event, you will walk in one circle around the stage, and then finish next to Ms. Livingston. Got it, everyone?" She directed as the girls all nodded their heads. "Okay, you will all go on at the same time for this event, so line up here, please. Any order will be fine." She stepped aside so they could line up. Miley and Lilly lined up near the very back. In a few short minutes, Miley and Lilly were prancing across the stage in nothing but bikinis.

Lilly tried her hardest not to look at Oliver, but she couldn't help herself. She watched him closely. His eyes were on her, although he was still talking to his female companion. She was giggling at his words, and Oliver was laughing as well, which really annoyed Lilly. She wanted to be the only one to make Oliver laugh.

Miley was looking at Oliver and his "so-called friend" as well. She thought about the girl. She thought and thought and thought, and finally came to a conclusion. The girl sitting next to Oliver was Zoey, Hannah Montana's "#1 Fan." She came to every concert and always found a way to sneak backstage into Hannah's dressing room. She was always taking pictures and asking for autographs. Miley smiled as she remembered how she handled Zoey; she actually took off her wig and changed clothes before letting her into her dressing room. So that when Zoey opened the door, all she found was Miley Stewart sitting on the couch. At the sound of Jacinda's voice, Miley came back from her stroll down memory lane.

"Here they are: The 15 remaining contestants of the Sparkly Spirits Beauty pageant! Don't they look lovely in their summer swimwear?" Jacinda's voice rang out through the theater as she clapped for the girls. The audience clapped along as the girls walked in another circle around the stage. "Let's introduce these ladies one more time!' Jacinda went on as the girls lined up next to her. "We have Ms Kimberly Gier," The audience applauded. "Ms. Rachel Martin," More applause, "Ms. Elizabeth Montgomery," The audience applauded at the sound of each girl's name. "Ms. Amber Matthews, Ms. Ashley Christianson, Ms. Emma Santino, Ms. Mary Grace Roberts, Ms. Natalie Cole, Ms. Chloe Sanders, Ms. Sydney Riocotti, Ms. Julia Adelson, Ms. Savannah Telodini, Ms. Jasmine Markez, Ms. Lilly Truscott and Ms. Miley Stewart!" Miley and Lilly heard Jackson whooping at the sound of their names. They smiled at each other as they heard several "Shh's" from those in the audience. "And that concludes the swimsuit portion of the competition. We'll call you back on stage in a few minutes for the judging." Jacinda said to the girls.

Once Lilly was backstage, she let out a loud sigh and tears came back to her eyes. Many girls huddled around Lilly, asking her what was wrong. Lilly looked at them all, and then at Miley, who stood across from her. She nodded and Lilly told them all about Oliver and her mom interrupting their kiss and then this new girl that was giggling and making him laugh. They all agreed that Oliver was being a real jerk for doing this to Lilly.

"I can't believe him!" Savannah shouted.

"What a pig!" Jasmine agreed.

"How could he do this to you?" Mary Grace questioned.

"You must feel horrible!" Emma concluded. Lilly nodded her head slowly as the girls comforted her and told her how rude Oliver was being. Suddenly, the stage manager called to them and broke up their little comfort circle.

"It's all gonna be okay. Don't worry." Natalie told her as they lined up to go back on stage for the judging. Amber and Ashley, who had been eavesdropping from outside the circle, came up to Lilly.

"Your boyfriend dumped you for someone better?" Ashley said in a cruel baby voice.

"How sad!" Amber backed her up and pretended to cry.

"Oh, what a poor little baby." They said together. "Oooo, sssss." Their fingers came together as they did their trademark move.

"Leave her alone." Miley commanded.

"She didn't do anything to you." Sydney agreed.

"Whatever." Amber and Ashley replied as they walked away.

"What jerks." Julia said from her place in line.

"Thanks guys; for having my back, you know? You're all great friends." Lilly smiled at the girls in line next to her. Just then the line started moving towards the stage. The girls stood before the judges and awaited their marks. Lacey spoke first.

"You were all quite promising tonight, girls, bit I'm afraid some of you came up just a bit short." She indicated a small space with her fingers. Lilly took Natalie's and Miley's hands, and Miley took Julia's, Julia took Emma's and so on and so forth. The only girls that weren't holding hands were Amber, Ashley, and Rachel. They were all too stubborn.

"When I call your name, you may go and stand next to Ms. Jacinda." Tracey instructed. "Miley Stewart, you are in." Miley jumped up at the sound of her name. She hopped over to Jacinda and stood still only when Lacey began to speak.

"Natalie Cole, you are in." Natalie smiled and stood next to Miley. They smiled at each other and looked over at the remaining 13 girls.

"Savannah Telodini, you are in." Keith called as Savannah smiled and excitedly walked over to her friends.

"Kimberly Gier, you are in."

"Elizabeth Montgomery, you are in."

"Emma Santino, you are in."

"Amber Matthews, you are in."

"Ashley Christianson, you are in." At the sound of their names, Amber and Ashley squealed excitedly and hurried over to the line of happy girls. Miley and Lilly rolled their eyes.

"Jasmine Markez, you are in!"

Meanwhile, Lilly was silently awaiting one of the judges to announce her name. _Wasn't I good enough? _She thought sadly. _It's all because of stupid Oliver. Why did I have to have that stupid crush on that stupid Oliver in the stupid first place? This is so stupid! _Then a voice interrupted her thoughts about her "stupid crush".

"Lilly Truscott, you are in". Tracey said happily. Lilly stood there for a moment, dumbstruck. It was only when Julia shoved her gently that she realized what was going on. She swiftly moved across the stage and took her place next to Jasmine.

"And there you have it, folks, our top 10!" Jacinda announced to much applause. Miley saw her brother whistling and looking at Elizabeth. Miley rolled her eyes, but Elizabeth smiled sweetly in his direction. The girls walked backstage, smiling to themselves. Once they were all off the stage, they burst out laughing.

"I thought I was gone for sure!" Natalie announced.

"I know, I was so scared!" Jasmine agreed.

"I was the last one picked!" Lilly said to the others. "I thought I was gonna be out!"

The other girls took sympathy on her.

"So, how are you and that guy, um, Oliver?" Elizabeth asked hesitantly.

"I can't stop thinking about him. I really, really like him." Lilly said, avoiding her friends' eyes.

"Aww, it's okay, Lilly. He's probably not worth it anyway." Emma said, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"You don't know Oliver. If he doesn't want to be my boyfriend," She shivered. "I at least still want his friendship."

"He'll come around." Kimberly said. "Once he sees you win this pageant!"

"Oh, please, I'll never make it into the top 5."

"Yes, you will, Lilly!" Elizabeth agreed with Kim. "You're gorgeous, and you seem really great. You're way better than me. I hardly stand a chance."

"No! No! You're all so beautiful, and you all deserve to win." Lilly said as they all hugged. After they said their goodbyes, Miley and Lilly walked outside to meet Jackson at the car. Just then, Oliver walked out with his arm around Zoey's shoulders. Miley saw them, and shoved Lilly with her elbow to get her attention.

"Lilly! Look, it's Oliver!" She whispered. He was heading towards them.

"Hey guys! You were both great tonight!" He called.

"Hey, Oliver." Miley said, smiling. She shoved her silent friend.

"Hey." Lilly mumbled. She avoided Oliver's eyes.

Zoey spoke next.

"Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friends, Oliver?" She said playfully.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I totally spaced out." Oliver said, looking right at Lilly. "This is my…"

**Cliffee! Yay! Tell me what you thought of this chapter! I hope you all liked it.**


	10. Sweet Niblets

**I am sooooo sorry it took me soooooo long to update, but my brother and sister wouldn't get off the computer for me to write more of this chapter. But I finally finished it, so here you go. Oh and I would love to thank Spencer-Sweetie, lilerin91, Luvs-Mitchel-Musso, Garden Spade, AlwaysxAddicted, and HarryPotterLivesUnderMyDeck for reviewing, Here's the next chapter!**

"This is my cousin, Zoey." Oliver said. Lilly stood there, feeling really stupid. "Zoey, this is Lilly and Miley, the girls I was telling you about on the phone. Zoey was in town, and I told her about the pageant. She wanted to come see it, so I took her. She thought you guys did great. Right, Zoe?"

"Yes, yes, you guys were awesome! You looked so great up there! I would never have the courage to do something like that." She nodded enthusiastically.

"Thanks." Miley said.

"Yea, yea, um, thanks. Oliver, did you say she was your cousin?" Lilly asked him, clearly distracted.

"Yeah, why?"

"Can we talk; over there?" Lilly pulled him away, leaving Miley and Zoey alone.

"You know, you look really familiar." Zoey told Miley once the others were at a safe distance. "Have I seen you somewhere?"

"No, no, we've never met! I'm just _MILEY, _Oliver's friend. Yup, I'm just _MILEY. _Good old_ MILEY!_" Miley said, emphasizing that her name was indeed Miley.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea, I'm sure. I am 100 sure of that." Miley said. Zoey looked at her closely.

"Hm…"

Meanwhile, Lilly had pulled Oliver behind a blue minivan and out of earshot of the other two.

"So what you're telling me is that that girl is your cousin?" Lilly whispered, pointing her finger in the direction of Zoey.

"Um... yes?" Oliver said unsurely. He didn't know what Lilly was getting at.

"You sure do a lot of flirting with your cousins." Lilly said, hitting Oliver's arm.

"What? I wasn't flirting with her!" Oliver whispered defensively.

"Oh, come on! You were all over her! Kissing her cheek, laughing at what she said, putting your arm around her shoulders; you were so totally flirting."

"Did I really do all that?"

"Uh… YES!"

"Oh…." Oliver said. He was looking at Zoey with a dazed look on his face.

"I can't believe this." Lilly sighed, leaning on the car they were hiding behind.

"What?" Oliver asked stupidly.

"Please don't tell me you like her!"

"Are you kidding me? She's my cousin, Lills. I love her, but not like that. Not like I love you." He wasn't looking at her. He couldn't.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"I love you too, Oliver." Lilly told him sweetly. She pulled him into a passionate kiss.

"What was that for?" Oliver asked once they pulled away from each other.

"Are you complaining?" Lilly asked.

"No, no, it was just a little... unexpected." He said, smiling. They hugged each other just as Miley was getting tired of Zoey asking her questions about herself and walked over to see what was taking her friends so long.

"Guys? Guys, what's taking you so- Oh… I'll give you a few more minutes." She said, smiling. Soon, Lilly and Oliver came out from behind the minivan. They held hands as they walked over to their awaiting friends.

"Finally! God, Oliver, you and Lola-" Zoey began.

"Lilly." Lilly corrected her.

"Lilly… Have been back there for like, ever! What, were you guys like, making out or something?" She laughed at her own joke.

"Actually…" Miley said.

"Oh my God! Are you guys, like, dating?" Zoey asked. Lilly and Oliver said nothing, so Miley stepped in.

"Yes, they've been together since last night, when Oliver went over to Lilly's house and they almost kissed but Lilly's mom came in and interrupted." Miley said shortly.

"Oh." Was all Zoey had to say.

"Who wants pizza?" Miley, Lilly and Oliver spun around to see who had spoken. They found Jackson leaning on his car, twirling his keys on his finger. They all laughed except for Zoey.

"Oh, Zoey, this is my annoying brother, Jackson." Miley said, seeing that Zoey was left out of the social loop.

"Hello, little Miss. I will be your chauffeur this evening." Jackson said, taking a bow.

"Hey, I'm Zoey. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said politely, putting her hand out for Jackson to take it. He took her fingers and kissed them lightly.

"Au contraire, Mademoiselle, the pleasure is all mine." He said with a superb French accent and a sly smile Miley had seen too many times before.

"Since when have you known French?" Miley asked her brother disbelievingly.

"Oh, I just picked it up." He answered deviously. _What is that smile? _Miley thought.

"Well, let's go get that pizza!" Lilly interrupted, seeing that Jackson and Miley were about to get a little rougher than intended.

"Sounds good to me!" Oliver put in. And with that, they all jumped into the car and Jackson drove to the nearest pizza place. They sat and talked until Zoey said she was too tired and needed to go home.

_The Next Day_

"I am so excited for this talent competition!" Miley said to Lilly while they were walking down the halls. "_This is the life! Hold on tight! And this is the dream! It's all I need!_" Miley sang out.

"Oh yeah! That's right! Break it down, break it down!" Lilly said as she danced around random people. Miley laughed.

"Well, we'd better get to English before Mr. H has our heads!" She said.

_Miley's House_

"What are you gonna wear?" Lilly asked Miley as she held up a white embroidered tank top and looked at herself in the mirror.

"I'm thinking… this… and this…" Miley said, taking a pair of brown cargo Capri's and a bright pink quarter-length sleeve top out of a dresser. She showed them to Lilly.

"Love it. How does this look?" She said, holding up the white tank and a pair of brown short-shorts.

"Will you be able to do your cheerleading moves in that?" Miley asked.

"No problem." She said. Miley and Lilly turned away from each other as they dressed. When they were done, Miley cleared some floor space for Lilly. Lilly backed up. She turned into a front handspring, landing right in front of Miley.

"That was great!" Miley said, clapping.

"Thanks!" Lilly said, brushing her legs off.

"Well, we've all heard me sing before, so let's go downstairs and get going. We actually might make it on time today." Miley said sarcastically. Lilly nodded and followed her friend downstairs. Jackson was sitting on the couch watching TV, and as soon as he saw the girls, he got up and took his keys from the table.

"You guys ready to go?" He asked. They nodded.

"Go where?" Robbie asked. He had just walked in from the deck.

"Do we have to tell you this every night?" Miley asked her dad. She walked over to him and patted him on the back. "You're losin it Daddy." She told him. He laughed.

"We're going to our pageant." Lilly said. "For the third time in a row," She added quietly. Robbie nodded.

"Have fun." He said, and went back onto the deck.

"Let's go!" Jackson said, walking out the door. The girls followed him into the car. Even though it had only been two days, it had become routine to go straight to the dressing room once they got there.

"We'll see you later, Jackson!" Miley called as they disappeared behind the dressing room door. Jackson went and found a seat next to Oliver and Zoey.

_Backstage _

"I am so nervous!" Lilly confessed to Miley once they were backstage.

"Don't be! You'll do fine!" Miley reassured her.

"But what if I forget how to move?" Lilly asked. She stood frozen with nerves.

"You'll be fine, Lilly, come on! You've done this tons of times!"

"Yeah, I know, but I'm still really nervous!" Lilly said, jumping up and down. Girls began to gather around and talk about how nervous _they _were.

"See, Lilly? Everyone's nervous." Miley said. Lilly nodded.

"Alright, everyone! Today, you will be performing in alphabetical order. That means Natalie Cole, you are up first!" The stage manager's voice rang out through the room. Natalie walked up to the curtain and took a deep breath. She disappeared through it and soon the girls heard her shaky voice signing The Best of Both Worlds by Hannah Montana. Miley winced.

"Oh my." She whispered to Lilly, who nodded. Her voice was cracking left and right, and she was way off key. Miley hoped she sounded better than that.

The next girl that went was Ashley. She did a sort of interpretive dance thing. Miley thought it was whack, but Lilly really liked it.

The next girl that went was okay, but she didn't get much applause form the crowd. Then it was Amber's turn. She wowed the crowd with a funky hip-hop dance routine. Lilly and Miley both loved the music, but they wished Amber didn't get as much applause as she did. Next was Elizabeth, who recited a scene from a play neither Miley nor Lilly had ever heard of; but she was really convincing. The crowd must have thought so too, because they roared with applause after she was finished. The next girls that went recited horrible poetry. And then it was Miley's turn. She went onstage; smiling like it was one of her concerts. She was really excited and nervous and happy and scared all at the same time. The audience was silent as she stood there in the center of the stage, preparing herself. The she opened her mouth to sing.

"_Uh oh  
There you go again talking cinematic  
Yeah you!  
Your charming  
Got everybody star struck  
I know  
How you always seem to go  
For the obvious  
Instead of me  
But get a ticket and you'll see  
If we were a movie  
You'd be the right guy  
And I'd be the best friend  
That you fall in love with in the end  
We'd be laughing  
Watching the sunset  
Fade to black  
Show the names  
Play the happy song  
Wish I could tell you there's a kiss  
Like somethin more than in my mind  
I see it  
You'd be amazing  
(you'd be amazing)  
(If we were a movie)  
If we were a movie  
You'd be the right guy  
(Right guy)  
And I'd be the best friend  
That you fall in love with in the end  
We'd be laughin  
Watchin the sunset fade to black  
Show the names  
Play the happy song_"

The audience erupted in loud applause. Miley saw Zoey lean in close to Oliver and whisper something in his ear. He looked around and shook his head profusely, as if he was trying to hide something. Miley smiled and waved to the crowed before walking off stage.

"Oh my gosh, Miley you were awesome!" Lilly shouted as soon as Miley was within earshot.

"Thanks!" Miley said, hugging her friend. "Um… Lilly, I think you're last." Miley said, laughing.

"Well, that sucks." Lilly said, kicking the ground. After Savannah went, it was Lilly's turn. She bravely walked on stage and smiled to the crowd. She walked to one edge of the stage and turned into a cartwheel. The audience "ooed" and "awwed" as she performed a superb aerial and did two front handsprings. She then turned around and did a back walked over, two back handsprings, and the longest handstand Miley had ever seen. She then knelt down and performed a chin stand, which Miley was quite impressed with. Obviously, the crowd was impressed too, because they were cheering louder than they had for any other contestant. With one more aerial, Lilly was finished. She stood in the center of the stage and smiled as the crowd cheered loudly. Backstage, she was greeted with many hugs and compliments from the other contestants, all of which thought she did a fantastic job.

"That was awesome!" Miley said. "I was watching through the curtain. You were amazing! You'll be in the top 5 for sure!"

"Thanks!" Lilly said, hugging her best friend again.

"Alright girls, the judging will be in 5 minutes!" The stage manager called. The girls squealed excitedly. They knew that 5 of them were going to be eliminated. After 5 short minutes, the girls lined up to go onstage. Miley and Lilly stood next to each other, and squeezed each other's hands tightly as they lined up in front of the judges.

"Okay, everyone, here is the top 10 finalists of the Sparkly Spirits Pageant!" Jacinda said happily. The audience cheered. "Judges…"

"Okay, you were all fantastic, but sadly, we can only pick 5 of you to move on." Tracey began. "Keith…"

"Lilly Truscott, you're in." Keith said blandly. Lilly jumped up and down. She hugged Miley before walking over to stand next to Jacinda.

"Ashley Christianson, you're in!" Lacey said. Ashley hugged Amber and excitedly walked over to stand next to Lilly. They rolled their eyes at each other.

"Elizabeth Montgomery, you're in!" Tracey said. Elizabeth hugged no one, but walked over and gave Lilly a high-five.

"Amber Matthews, you are in." Keith said plainly. Amber ran over to stand next to Elizabeth, and hugged Ashley in joy.

"And last, but _certainly _not least," Tracey began. "Miley Stewart, you are in." Miley screamed and ran over to the line of happy girls. She hugged Lilly and returned to her place so Jacinda could wrap it up.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, our top 5 contestants!" She said, waving them off the stage as the crowd applauded.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't think I was gonna make it!" Miley shouted as soon as they were backstage.

"You did fabulous, why wouldn't you make it?" Lilly offered support to her best friend.

"Thank you! You did awesome too, you know, no wonder you were picked first." Miley said, giving Lilly yet another hug. With that, they headed out the door, and met Jackson in the parking lot.

"You guys did awesome!" He said supportively. "But I really want that Elizabeth to win." He said. Miley hit him on the arm, and Lilly followed suit. "Ow!"

"Just take us home!" Miley said. So they got into the car, and Jackson drove them home. When they arrived in the family room, they saw Robbie was talking on the phone.

"Okay. So it's a done deal. Thank you very much. You, too, Sir." He said, hanging up. "Where have you guys been?" He asked. Miley started to answer, but he interrupted before she could say anything. "Doesn't matter. Guess who just hooked Hannah Montana with the greatest deal ever? And with kids her age too."

"Oh my goodness daddy, what did you do?" Miley asked excitedly.

"You father, the man standing right in front of you, me, Robbie Ray Stewart-"

"Just get on with it!" Lilly interrupted. Everyone looked at her. "Sorry."

"Anyway, I signed you up to meet the winner of the...wait for it…" He paused. "…Sparkly Spirits Beauty Pageant!" He said excitedly, holding his arms out for dramatic effect. Everyone was silent. Finally, Miley spoke.

"Sweet niblets."

**Done, yay! Thanks everybody for being so patient with me, I promise Ill try and update sooner next time! Review! Thanks everybody!**


	11. Just how it was meant to be

**Hey everybody! I believe this is my last chapter! YAYAYA! I'm kind of sad, though, u know? I mean, I loved writing this story and getting reviews from you all! It was so awesome! Well, anyway, no more tears, I will now list the reviewers from the last chapter. I would like to thank lilerin91, Supergirrl, Spencer-Sweetie, luckyducky93, Garden Spade, luvokemo, and softballchick03 for reviewing! Here's chapter 11!**

"Dad! How could you forget? Where did you think we were these past three nights?" Miley said, obviously frustrated. Her once-perfect hair was now frizzy and all over the place, her make-up was now smeared and running down her face, her clothes were slightly twisted around. She paced back and forth across the kitchen floor, deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, Bud. I just- I didn't know." Robbie sighed deeply and rose form the couch. "I could cancel- but this will bring in big bucks, baby girl." He looked at her inquisitively. No one said a word.

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Lilly asked, breaking the silence. She was sprawled out on the floor close to where Miley was pacing. "I mean, you can't just lose on purpose."

"That's it!" Miley said, stopping mid-step.

"What is?" Lilly asked. She rose and stood next to Miley.

"Lilly you're a genius!" Miley said, pulling her friend into a tight hug.

"Umm, thanks?" Lilly said, clearly confused. Robbie suddenly understood what they girls were saying. He walked over to them and gave Lilly a pat on the back.

"Yes! Lilly you saved us!" He said.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" Lilly asked, pulling away from Miley and her dad.

"Lilly, don't you see? I can just lose on purpose!" Miley squealed.

"What? How are you going to do that?" Lilly still didn't understand.

"Listen carefully okay?" Miley said, speaking slowly. "I am not going to win this pageant tomorrow. I will do something that prevents me from winning. It really won't be too hard. Do you understand?" She asked.

"Yeah, I understand. So I wonder who's gonna win and meet Hannah Montana?" Lilly said. Miley shrugged.

The Next Day, At School

Amber and Ashley came up to Miley Lilly, and Oliver in the halls. They each had smug, cocky looks on their faces.

"You guys are going down tonight!" Amber said.

"Yeah, we are so going to beat you." Ashley added.

"Like, there's no way you could win while you're up against us." Amber said nastily.

"Yeah, we are like, way cooler than you." Ashley said cruelly.

"And prettier, smarter, sweeter… all around better." They said together. "Ooooo…sssss!" They said, performing their trademark hand move.

"Well, let's see, who got absolutely no praise from the judges and minimal applause from the crowd?" Miley said. She could have just slapped them, by the looks on their faces.

"Would that be, you?" Lilly and Miley said together. "Ooooo…sssss!" They mimicked Amber and Ashley's absurd movements and walked away, leaving Oliver alone with amber and Ashley.

"I-I'm just gonna…g-go…" He stuttered, and hurried after his friends.

Miley's House

"Yay! We get to wear the awesome dresses!" Lilly said excitedly. They were in Hannah Montana's closet, getting ready for the show. Miley had already decided to keep the dress plan, but go wild with the hair and make-up. Lilly was going to keep it cute and simple. "This is so badical!"

"This is going to be fun!" Miley laughed. "I think we should do something totally wild! You know, go crazy; dark make-up, wild hair; very messy! I think that'd be so awesome!" Miley said, walking over to her vanity and grabbing her brush. She sat down as she began to brush her long, brown hair. Lilly didn't say anything. She was looking down at her feet. Miley looked over at her. "What's the matter?" She asked.

"Well, what you described sounded really scary. I mean, I guess that'd be cool…" She trailed off.

"What is it, Lilly?" Miley was concerned. She didn't know what Lilly was talking about. Scary was the idea, right?

"Do you remember how Amber and Ashley came up to us this morning?" Lilly asked. Miley nodded. "Yes, well, do you remember how they were all 'We are so going to beat you!' And then they were all 'Oooo...sssss' and then we were all 'Would that be you?' and then they were all 'oh my gosh!' and then we were all 'Ooooo…sssss'?" Miley nodded again, this time a bit unsurely. "Yes, well, would you really want to lose to that?" Miley was silent. Lilly makes a good point. Miley thought. I really wouldn't want to lose to them, now that I've said all of those things. Man, now what?

"Yeah, I see what you're saying. " Miley mumbled.

"So what should we do?" Lilly asked.

"I think I have an idea." Miley said, smiling deviously. Lilly looked at her curiously, knowing that Miley's ideas were usually trouble. They finished getting ready slowly, because they wanted to look just right. Miley helped Lilly put her hair up in a classy bun, with a few curled strands hanging around her face. She applied light grey eye shadow that faded into green (to match her dress) and what Miley likes to call "Just the Right Shade of Red" lip gloss. Miley's hair was left down, and Lilly helped her curl random strands to give it a cool effect. She wore the same eye shadow as Lilly, except hers faded into pink instead of green. When they were finished, they got dressed.

"Wow." Lilly gasped when they stood in front of the same full-length mirror of Miley's that they had stood in front of for the past 3 days.

"Beautiful." Miley agreed, putting her arm around her best friend. They stood in front of the mirror, admiring how they looked in probably two of the finest gowns they would even put on. After a few minutes, Miley snapped out of her trance and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall near the door. It read 4:55. "Ahhh!" Miley shrieked.

"What?" Lilly asked, alarmed.

"We have to be there in 5 minutes! Let's go, quick!" Miley said, grabbing a light pink sweater from the back of a purple chair. She threw an identical light green one to Lilly, who was right behind her. They rushed downstairs, trying not to trip over their long gowns. "Daddy?" Miley called through the house. No answer. "Daddy?" She called again. No answer. "Jackson?" She tried Jackson's name. No answer. "What is going on here?" She wondered aloud. Lilly shrugged. "Jackson? Dad? Where are you guys?" Miley screamed. She stopped for a moment and removed her shoes. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Come on Lilly." She shook her head and made for the door.

"What? You mean we're going to walk there?" Lilly asked in disbelief.

"Actually, I was thinking of something more along the lines of a sprint." She said. She was already at the door, about to open it. Lilly followed suit and removed her shoes.

"I cannot believe this." She breathed. They went outside. It was freezing. "I thought we were in Malibu." Lilly said. They ran down the Stewarts' driveway and headed in the direction of The Club.

"It's not too much further." Miley said to a shivering Lilly. Lilly nodded. Soon, they arrived at The Club and walked inside. It was much warmer in there. The girls shed their sweaters and headed for the dressing room. Once inside, they received constant compliments from Elizabeth, who seemed to be absolutely in love with their dresses. They told her over and over again that her dress was gorgeous, and they should be the ones complimenting her. She was wearing a long, sleek, deep red dress that complimented her perfect figure wonderfully. It was cut low across her chest, and criss-crossed across the back. She looked gorgeous in it. Her hair was left down; it hung straight down her back. Amber and Ashley also looked quite beautiful in the gowns they had on. Amber sported a pink sleeveless dress with 3 black stripes on the torso and 3 small pink and black flowers on one side of the hip. Ashley was wearing a long black gown with a slit that reached the left hip. Underneath, you could see white fabric, and right above the slit were many glittering sequins arranged in no specific pattern. Miley and Lilly thought they looked…well, pretty. Both girls' hair was left down; Amber's was curled, and Ashley's was straight. As Miley and Lilly put their shoes back on, they talked to Elizabeth about how they had to walk to The Club. Elizabeth laughed and sighed and smiled and giggled in all the right places.

It wasn't long before the stage manager called their names and they lined up to go on stage. Since there were only five of them, they all went on at the same time. The stage manager told them that all they had to do was walk across the stage, smile at the judges, and line up on the red line at the back of the stage. Each girl would take a turn walking up in front of the crowd, curtsying, and smiling for everyone to see. They would say their name and age, and one thing about them. Then they would go back to the red line. When everyone was finished, they would head backstage and give the judges a chance to decide to winner.

"Got it?" The woman said when she was finished explaining. The girls nodded. Are you guys ready to go on?" The girls nodded once again. "Alright...Go!" She said, gently pushing Amber, who was first in line, through the curtain. They pranced in front of the crowd, stopped for a moment to smile at the judges, and then went back to the red line. Amber headed up to the front of the stage as instructed and curtsied for the judges.

"My name is Amber Matthews, I am 14 years old, and…I am one of the prettiest girls in my school!" She said.

She is so self-centered! Miley, Lilly, and Elizabeth thought from their place on the red line.

Next it was Ashley's turn. She walked up, curtsied, and smiled for the judges. "My name is Ashley Christianson, I am 14, and… She took mine!" Ashley whined. Miley and Lilly looked at each other in disbelief. They could not believe she actually said that. "I was gonna say that, Amber!" Ashley said, turning around to glare at her friend. Miley looked over to Ms. Livingston. Her once-cheerful face was now searching for something to say in this odd situation.

"Ummm…" She said, trying to find the right words. "Well! Now, uh, let's move on to our next contestant, shall we?" She said, gesturing to Elizabeth to move forward. At the same time, her eyes were pleading with Ashley to stop the madness. Both girls stood still for a brief moment, looked at each other, then silently agreed they wouldn't torture poor Ms. Livingston any longer. Elizabeth went up to the front of the stage and curtsied for the judges. She smiled confidently and looked out into the crowd. When she spotted Jackson, she blushed and smiled sweetly.

"My name is Elizabeth Montgomery, I am 14, and I have a huge crush on the boy with blonde hair sitting in the fourth row." She said. There was only one blonde boy in that row: Jackson. He looked surprised, but quickly changed that into a look of pure cool. He smiled at Elizabeth, and she smiled back broadly before walking back to the red line. Elizabeth's performance got much applause from the crowd and many cat calls and "Ooos" in Jackson's direction. Next, it was Lilly's turn. She walked up to the front of the stage, curtsied gracefully, and smiled brightly for the audience. She caught Oliver's eye, which only made her smile grow bigger and bigger. When she spoke, her voice rang out perfectly through the room.

"My name is Lilly Truscott, I am 14 years old, and I love Oliver Oken!" Lilly said, staring straight at Oliver, never letting her smile fade. Oliver blushed, and Zoey hit his arm playfully. The people around Oliver were all laughing and smiling at him. Lilly walked back over to the red line with a sort of spring in her step. Next, it was Miley's turn. Lilly was really curious to see what she had planned. Miley walked up to the front of the stage and sort of half-curtsied, half-knelt in front of the judges. When she spoke, she used her strongest southern accent.

"My name is Miley Stewart, I am 14, and…uh…I…" She searched for just the right words.

"She's a complete hillbilly!" Ashley called from behind her. Miley looked back at her and smiled. Ashley seemed taken aback by this act of gratitude, but quickly regained her snotty composure. Miley turned back to the audience and nodded her head in agreement with Ashley's statement. The audience looked puzzled. Jacinda started clapping, uncertainly at first, but soon, the audience joined in and Miley received loud applause. She smiled graciously towards Jacinda, and then at the audience, then headed back to the red line. Halfway there, she looked at Lilly and smiled slyly. Miley walked on; she was about there, with only a few steps to go. Suddenly, she began to fall. She crashed down right in front of Ashley, who kicked her foot and squealed with disgust.

"My bad!" Miley called, loud enough for everyone to hear. She rose and made her way over to stand next to Lilly.

"Nice one!" Lilly whispered, giving Miley a high-five behind their backs.

"Thanks! It kind of hurt when Ashley kicked me though." Miley said, giggling. Soon, their attention was turned up front, to where Jacinda was speaking again.

"Well, now, wasn't that… eventful?" She said uncertainly. She looked right at Miley. "Now, can we please have our lovely ladies go backstage so the judges can decide the winner?" She gestured to the curtain. With Amber leading the way, they headed backstage. Once all 5 girls were through the curtain, they all erupted with laughter.

"I can't believe you tripped!" Ashley said.

"Way to go, graceful!" Amber added.

"You are such a loser!" They said in unison. "Oooo, sssss."

"Shut up!" Elizabeth shouted out of nowhere. Miley, Lilly, Amber and Ashley all looked at her, surprised. "It's not like she did it on purpose!" She looked at Miley sympathetically. Miley just smiled. You don't know the half of it. She thought, looking over to Lilly and smiling discreetly.

"Oh please!" Amber said, and they walked away before it got really ugly.

"Thanks, Elizabeth. That was really nice of you." Miley said, giving Elizabeth a warm hug.

"No problem. They were being jerks. No one deserves that." She smiled as they broke apart.

"You should totally come to our school. You know, teach Amber and Ashley a lesson." Lilly said.

"Where do you go to school? Miley asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm home schooled." Elizabeth said simply.

"Awesome." Miley said, smiling at her friends. They talked about Elizabeth's home schooling until Mary, the backstage manager, called for them to line for the last time.

"I can't believe it. This is it, I mean; this is where it all ends." Lilly said, pulling her friends into yet another tight hug. They were all close to tears. They walked to the center of the stage; hands interlocked, and anxiously awaited the results.

"Well, girls, you were all wonderful, but sadly, we can only pick one of you to be the winner. You know that. Now, what you don't know is the winning prize that the best contestant will receive." Jacinda paused to raise the excitement. "The winner of this pageant will receive not only a $1,000 scholarship check, but she will also get to meet pop-singing sensation…HANNAH MONTANA!" At the sound of Hannah's name, the crowd erupted in applause, whistles, you name it. They went wild. Miley looked at Lilly and they smiled at the secret only they shared. "Now, now, calm down everyone! The first and second runners-up will receive a $700 scholarship check, and the third and fourth runners-up will receive a $500 scholarship check!" Jacinda smiled. "The judges have given me an envelope that contains the name of that one lucky winner, as well as the fourth, third, second, and first runners-up. Here we go." She began to open the envelope. The audience was dead silent. I mean, you could have heard a pin drop. Lilly tried not to laugh when Oliver sneezed into Zoey's shirt. She went to the bathroom to try and wash it off.

"Leave it to Oliver." Lilly whispered, causing Miley to chuckle. After a long silence, Jacinda finally spoke.

"Now, the fourth runner-up is…" She read off of a small pink paper. "Ashley Christianson!" The crowd cheered loudly as Ashley began to make her way to the front of the stage. She didn't look too happy as she curtsied and waved her hand in thanks.

"She looks… disappointed." Lilly observed. Miley nodded in agreement.

"Alright! Well done, Ashley, well done Ashley!" Jacinda said, applauding. "Now, for the third runner-up..." The audience fell silent once again. "Amber Matthews!" Amber looked up, surprised. She, like Ashley, didn't expect to be placed this low. She walked up to the front of the stage and curtsied half-heartedly. Then she went over to stand next to Ashley on the right side of the stage.

"Miley!" Lilly whispered, squeezing Miley's hand tightly. She was so nervous. _Just because Miley can't win, doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to. _She thought excitedly.

"Alright, Amber! Well done! Now, for the second runner-up!" The audience was silent yet again. Miley, Elizabeth, and Lilly squeezed each other's hands tightly as they waited for Jacinda to call one of their names. "Elizabeth Montgomery!" Jacinda called. Elizabeth smiled and gave each Miley and Lilly a big bear hug before walking to the front of the stage and curtsying. She brandished a huge smile as she joined Amber and Ashley. Now it was between Miley and Lilly.

"Here we go." Miley whispered, giving Lilly's hand a tight squeeze. Miley felt relived when Lilly squeezed back.

"Alright, ladies, it's down to the two of you now. Miley Stewart and Lilly Truscott." Jacinda lowered her voice. Miley and Lilly looked at each other and smiled, as if they knew everything was going to turn out okay. "Are you ready, girls?" They nodded. "Okay, then here we go." She read off the paper. "The winner…of the Sparkly Spirits Beauty Pageant is…Lilly Truscott!" The audience erupted in applause once again, but all Lilly could think about was what was going on right beside her. Miley was beaming. Both girls were too happy for words as they hugged each other tightly and made their way to the front of the stage to curtsy for the audience. They hugged again and Miley went over to stand next to the other girls. "There you have it everyone! Lilly Truscott is the new Miss Sparkly Spirit!" Jacinda shouted over the sound of the audience. Lilly stood in the center of the stage as the camera men crowded around her, showing the world how absolutely fantastic she was.

_Just how it was meant to be. _Both Miley and Lilly thought, looking at each other, their smiles shining radiantly for the world to see.

**Finished! Yes! I hope you all loved the story! Please review! You guys are so awesome, thank you! Oh, and if you have any ideas for stories you want to read but can't write yourself, tell me! Thanks guys! Love you all! **


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